Problems with the Soul
by seraphim2db
Summary: Someone's soul travels back in time after NFA and The Powers that be decided to make another champion. Tara Maclay, The Seraphim. Her adventure starts on the summer before season 2 of Buffy. Finally complete
1. Prologue

Problems with the Soul

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or any character in this fanfic. Well except the one's I make up later in the story.

Ratings: PG-13 to R for language, violence, angst, romance and  
sexuality later in the story.

Prologue

The bright lights of L.A. shine over the city as a figure slowly paces back and forth on a skyscraper. The person's idenity is obscured by the shadows, but you can clearly see that it is a woman.

"As a small child my father told me I was evil." she said as it started pouring down raining. "He told me that I was a demon." she said with a chuckle and a smile.

"But now demons fear me." she said as she stopped pacing.

"Till this day I still don't understand what happened. One day I'm just walking home from school and Bam! My life changed forever. I went from shy girl to demon slayer." she said as she started to pace again.

"Everybody used to talk down to me, but now I'm a changed woman. Let's just say they saw something in my soul change. Something that told them that I was no longer a victim." she said with a grin.

"Speaking of souls, I always thought that when you die, your soul goes to heaven or hell." she said as she starts to shake her head. "But now I know your soul goes where it's needed."

Suddenly a woman's scream permeates the air.

"Sorry kiddes. I guess I'll have to tell you my story another time." she said as the lighting flashed revealing her face. She had long dirty blonde hair and she was wearing all black and a leather duster.

"By the way my name is Tara Maclay. The Seraphim." she said as she melted into the darkness. The lighting flashed again and Tara was gone.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Shelbyville County, New Mexico 1997

Tara Maclay stepped out of the school and looked around. She wasn't certain whether she was disappointed or relieved that her brother wasn't there to pick her up. On one hand, it meant she had to walk, but on the other Tara was more then happy to have time to herself.

She looked up at the blue sky and took a deep breath as she started out of the school yard. 'At least It's the last day of school', she thought to herself. Home was about a mile outside of town, less then two miles of a walk from where she was now. All and all it wasn't a long walk, though Tara figured she might drag it out a little bit if she could.

As she started her walk home she had a feeling that someone was watching her. Picking up her pace she turned around to see if anyone was behind her. To her relief no one was there. As she walked into a more rural area a wave of nausea hit her.

Dropping her books that she had clutching to her chest, she fell to the ground and began to vomit. After what seemed to be forever, but was actually a few minutes, the nausea subsided and she began to stand.

"Awww.... it looks like the freak is sick." a voice said from behind her. Turning she saw that it was the highschool bully Danny Myers. For years he's been taking little kids lunch money and personal belongings. Including Tara's.

"H..h...hi Danny." Tara said, her momentary sickness turning into fear.

"H...h...hi Danny." The buck toothed bully mimicked as he stepped closer to Tara.

"Where da hell is my money, Tara?" he asked as he got in her face. He used his bulk and height to intimidate her, which worked because she was shaking with fear.

"I...I.. d....don't have your money Danny." She stammered out as she began to walk backwards.

"Then ye going ta have ta pay me another way." Danny said with a grin as he unzipped his pants. Tara got on her knees and began to stroke Danny's cock. Making the boy in question moan in pleasure. Inches away from putting the boys cock in her mouth something flashed in Tara's eyes.

Letting go of the boy's dick she reared back and punched him in the balls. As the boy doubled over in pain, Tara stood and punched him in the face. The force of the blow sent blood flying from his nose. Looking down at the boy in disgust, Tara came to her senses.

'What did I just do?' she thought to herself as she slowly inched away from the boy's crumpled body. Taking one last look at the bully, she quickly gathered her books and ran home.

* * *

"Tara what the hell took ye so long getting home?" Jed Maclay asked his daughter. 

"I'm s..s... sorry daddy. I...I.. It'll never happen again." Tara said nervously, glancing at her brother who was supposed to pick her up.

"It better not happen again!" her dad shouted. "Now get in the kitchen and fix supper. I have to go out of town in a few hours." he ordered.

"I... have to us...use the bathroom first." Tara replied.

"Go ahead. But make it quick." her dad replied. With that Tara scampered off.

Putting her books in her bedroom Tara went to the Bathroom. After using it, she went to wash her hands in the sink. As the water flowed in her hands she splashed a little on her face and looked in the mirror.

But the face staring back at her wasn't hers, but that of a man's. With a shriek she ran from the bathroom and into the hands of her hateful father.

"What the hell is going on Tara?" Jed asked his now shaking daughter. "What the hell were ye screaming about?"

Tara just cryed a little more and pointed to the bathroom, muttering about a man being in there. Jed pushed his daughter away roughly and entered the bathroom. A moment later he emerged looking upset.

"Tara I don't know what's going on with you today." her father spat out as he grabbed her roughly by the arm. "But I want you to cut out the nonsense, and go fix supper. I'm hungry." he stated as he let go of her and returned to the living room.

Tara looked from the retreating back of her father to the bathroom. With some amount of force she returned to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Only to see her own reflection. With a sigh, she walked out of the bathroom and started supper.

* * *

After dinner Tara went in her room and locked the door. (Even though her father and brother left and she wouldn't have to endure him coming into her room berating her. She locked the door out of force habit.) As she sat on the bed she began to think about today's events. 

As she rolled over in bed, she came face to face with the man she saw in the mirror. Tara let out a blood curdling scream as she jumped off the bed.

"St...st...stay away from me." she stuttered as she ran to her door. Cursing herself for locking it.

"It's all right. I'm not going to hurt you." the man said with an Irish sounding accent. For some odd reason the door seemed to be stuck. Trapping Tara in the room with the stranger. Not knowing what else to do she turned around to face him.

He was a white male, probably in his late twenties, Tara guessed. He wore all dark colors and had dark spikey hair.

He was a perfectly normal looking guy, but that didn't make him any less terrifying. He was in her room after all.

"Wh...who are you?" Tara asked through her own fear. She began to whimper as the man tried to approach her but walked through her bed.

"I don't know who I am." the man stated standing in front of her. "Will you please help me?" He asked taking a step back. He noticed he was scaring her by standing so close.

"H..how can I help?" Tara asked. "You're a g..g..ghost."

The man looked at her funny for a moment before he replied.

"I've been in your room, for awhile now." he started. "And through some effort, I was able to move some of your books."

"My books!" Tara almost shouted. "What did you do to them?"

The man just looked at her, surprised at her outburst. 'So there's a tiger hidden under that shy girl exterior' he thought to himself.

"I didn't hurt your books." the man stated taking a few steps back. "I was bored and I tried to read something. I accidently stumbled unto some magic books and I thought you could help me."

To his surprise the girl looked down at her feet.

"I'm s..s...sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about." the man said as he stepped closer to her. "I had no right going through your things." After a moment Tara met his gaze, but was still shaking with fear.

"H...h...how can I help you?" she asked.

"You can help me by using magic." He stated as he walked over to her bookshelf.

"I was able to find a spell that I think will help me move on to the after-life." he finished as he turned to face her. Only to find her looking back at her feet.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Tara looked up at the older man and quickly told him. "M... m... magic i... is bad."

"Who told you magic was bad?" he asked as he calmed down a bit.

"My daddy..." She said meekly.

"Why would he tell you something like that?" the ghost asked.

"Be....be...because of my...my...mom. S....she was b....b..bad"

"Did she hurt someone by using magic ?"

"S... she... she tried to..."

"Who?" he asked hating to have to ask the question.

"D... daddy."

"Did you see it happen?" he asked, his heart heavy as he sympathized with the young girl.

"N... no..."

He frowned. Something just wasn't right. "How did you know?"

"Daddy... he told me... after... she ..w..w..went away."

"Left? Or..." He hesitated, stopping and looking at the small blond. "Tara, did your mother die?"

Tara just nodded.

He frowned, what kind of man tells his daughter that her dead mother tried to hurt him? Tara didn't need that kind of weight on her shoulders at this age.

"What happened?"

"T... the d.. Demon in her... w... w... woke up... and it tried t... t... to k... k... k... kill daddy."

"Demon?" he asked , now knowing that someone had beaten Tara down to such a point that she was meekly following any person who wanted to order her around.

While those thoughts ran through his head, Tara began speaking. She was telling him things that he knew she didn't want to.

"T... the women in m... m... my family h.. Have a demon in them. T... that's where the Magic comes from..."

"What!?" the ghost exploded, making Tara take a few steps back. "Listen to me Tara." he continued in more gentle tones.

"I was in your body earlier today..."

"I....in my body?" Tara asked shocked.

"Ye...Yes." the man now stuttered. "I saw that you were in trouble, so I decided to help." he said as he smiled at her sheepishly. It only took Tara a second to know what he was talking about.

"Th...Thank you." she said looking up at him with a half smile. If ghosts could blush, the stranger would be turning red as we speak.

"You're welcome Tara." he replied after a second. "Now like I was saying. I've been in your body for a few hours and there isn't a demon in there."

She looked up at him at that. "No demon?" she asked in a child-like voice.

"No demon." he confirmed. The ghost let that sink in with her for a moment before he spoke.

"Now as for the spell we'll do it tomorrow."

"Wh...Why not now?" Tara dared to ask. The ghost looked at her fondly. 'She just got the shock of her life and she's still willing to help me. This girl is truly special, unlike her fucked up father.' The ghost thought bitterly to himself.

"Because you are very emotional right now." he started. "If you try the spell right now you could hurt yourself. So get some sleep and we will start tomorrow."

"Ok." Tara replied as she looked over at her new friend. Sitting back on the bed, she layed down and fell asleep. The man looked at her with a smile on his face. Walking over to her bed he raised her comforter up and tucked her in.

tbc...


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Galway, Ireland 1753

A beautiful noble woman and a handsome gentleman walk the streets of Ireland at night. Seeing a house he recognizes he slowly walks up to it and knocks on the door.

As the door opens a little girl is standing there looking wide eyed at him.

"Liam!" she exclaims before hugging her older brother.

"Yes Kathy it's me." he says as he breaks their hug. "Can me and my lady friend come in?" he asks.

"Yes...yes do come in." she says as she steps aside. Liam and the noble woman quickly step inside and close the door.

"Liam I thought you were dead? Are you an Angel?" she asked looking dreamily at her brother. Liam grins at his little sister for a moment with a thoughtful expression on his face. Him an Angel.

"No Kathy I'm not an Angel." he replies with the grin still on his face. "I told you before I left that no matter what happens I'll come back for you. Now grab your coat so we can leave this place."

Kathy lets out a squeal as she runs to the living room closet. As she turns her back to him Liam slips into his vampiric visage.

"Oh and Kathy give your brother a kiss." he says from behind her. As she turns around and looks at his face she screams. With a grin he sinks his fangs into his sister's neck and drinks her dry. Her little lifeless body falls onto the floor of the closet. Her lifeless eyes stare up at her brother.

"Aaaaaah!" Tara screamed as she woke up from her dream. Sweat rolled down her body as her hand shot up to her neck.

"Tara what's wrong?" the ghost asked as he materialized in front of her. Startled she let out a scream as she jumped out of bed. Remembering what was going on she sat down in bed looking up at him.

"Are you Ok?" the stranger asked again as he sat beside her.

"N....n...no." Tara replied. "I....h...h...had a bad dream."

"A dream?" he asked. "What was it about?"

"Y...you." she said as she pointed at him.

After telling him about the dream, he sat there looking at her stunned. Maybe I was a killer when I was alive. But that's impossible. What she was dreaming about had to be hundreds of years ago.

"It's going to be Ok Tara, but I need you to do something for me." At her nod he continued. "Did you catch what this lady... Darla was it, called me. I would love to know my name." he said as he looked expectantly at her.

Tara thought real hard about the dream. But couldn't remember the woman ever saying his name. But she did remember what the little girl called him. She called him Angel. The man looked visably dissappointed at this news.

"I could name you!" Tara offered cheerfully. He smiled at her weakly then he just nodded his head.

5 minutes later

"W...what about Riley?" Tara asked. The ghost gave her a funny look but said nothing. So she went on with another name.

"Ben?" he shook his head no.

"O..o..ok, what about Connor?" she asked. The ghost sat there for a minute letting the name roll around in his head.

"Conner, I think like that name." he replied with an easy smile.

About an hour after Tara took a shower and got something to eat, her and Connor sat quietly in her room. Flipping through the pages of her spell book, she finally stumbled onto the spell that Connor told her of. Her eyes went wide as she read, how powerful the spell was. She could levitate things and read auras, but sending a ghost to the other side seemed a bit much for her.

"I...i...i.. don't think I...i.... can do this." Tara stuttered as she set the book down.

"You can." Connor reassured. "Like I said, I was in your body and I know you have enough power to do this."

"B...b...but ...I... don't have e...enough money for the ingredients." she tried again to get out of it. Connor used his will and took the book out of Tara's hand. He let out a sigh as he saw that the only ingredients she needed were a mirror, some chaulk, and a candle.

"Tara." he started off slow as he ran his hand through his hair. "These ingredients would only be about five dollars." he just couldn't understand this girl. The spell was simple enough for a practitioner to do.

After convincing her for the millionth time that she could do the spell, Tara finally agreed. As Tara was going through her father's dresser draw for some money(he left her a little, in case she needed anything while he was gone.) a book fell out and on to the floor.

Bending over to retrieve the book, her eyes widened as she read the title.

'The Diary of Elizabeth Maclay'

Afraid to even touch the book, Tara took the money out of the draw and left. Conner gave her a look but quickly followed.

* * *

The two were half way to the city before Connor decided to break the uncomfortable silence.

"Tara." he called out her name. The girl suddenly stopped and looked back at him. Her eye's were red and puffy and unshed tears stung her eye's.

'Maybe I need to talk to her about her mother later. Whatever it is has really upset her.'

"How long will it take us to get to the city?" he asked changing the subject.

"A...a...about twenty more minutes." she replied rubbing at her eyes.

'Damnit just what lies has her father told her?' Connor thought to himself as the two kept walking.

-

Before Tara could announce that they finally made it to town a scream permeated the air.

Not knowing why, but Connor ran in the direction of the scream. Pushing down her own fear Tara quickly followed.

As the two ran through a clearing of bushes, they saw Danny the school bully along with a few other kids kicking a boy in the ribs. The boy was curled up in a fetal position on the ground and was helpless to stop the bullies attacks.

"Wh....what are we going to do?" Tara asked Connor timidly from their position behind some bushes. Connor looked over at Tara with a grim look on his face before he replied.

"Give me control of your body...."

* * *

Danny raised his hand to hit the boy again until someone grabbed his arm from behind. Turning he see's that it is Tara. Jerking his arm loose he glares at her.

"So the freak is back." he said just loud enough for his gang to hear. As his gang looks up and see's Tara, they stop kicking the boy and they surround her.

Tara looks at Danny's gang and a grin parts her lips.

"I thought that after I beat you up the other day that you would stop picking on people. I guess I'll just have to beat you even harder."

With a beastial growl at her comment Danny surges forward with a series of punches. Tara either dodges or blocks all of Danny's blows until she see's an opening. Letting out a series of lightning quick punches to his stomach, Danny falls to the ground and starts to dry heave.

Danny's gang stood back opened mouthed as they watched Tara Maclay 'The Freak' beat Danny.

"Don't just stand there...." Danny manages to get out from his position on the ground. "get her."

The boys exchange a look with one another until one by one they surged forward. As one got to close to her Tara shot out a kick that hit him square in the gut. As he doubled over another one of the boys grabbed her from behind.

Not knowing any other way to get out of the hold, Tara head-butted him. The visious move sent a spray of blood and teeth flying as she flipped him over her shoulder and moved onto her next opponent.

Sending out a spin kick which the boy smoothly slid under, she dropped to the ground and did a leg sweep, that sent the boy sprawling to the ground.

Seeing that all of the boys were still on the ground, groaning from their injuries, she quickly made it over to the boy who had been attacked.

"Are you ok?" she asked as she helped him to his feet. His face was a bloody mess and so was the rest of his body.

"Tara?" the boy asked. seeing her from his one good eye.

"Yeah it's me." she replied with a grin. "Now can you run?" the boy only nodded his head.

"Good. Now go." As the boy took off she looked over her shoulder and saw that Danny and his gang were starting to get to their feet.

"Tara , I'm going to beat the hell out of you." Danny said as he spit some blood out of his mouth.

"Is that so, because that's what I thought I was doing to you." Tara quipped. With that the boys again surged forward. Before they got to her, Tara saw a walking stick next to her foot. In one quick move she kicked the stick and sent it into her hands.

With a grin on her face as the boys stared on in shock, she twirled the stick in her hands expertly.

Stopping for a second she brought her fingers to her palms in a "come on" gesture.

Enraged, all the boys attack her at once. As one boy tries to tackle her she spins and trips him with her staff, then smacks him in the small of his back. As he falls to the ground another boy tries to punch her in the face. Blocking his punch she sends out a side kick that hits another boy in the gut. As he doubles up in pain she spins and smacks her walking stick in the back of the boy, who tried to punch her, head and knocks him unconscious. Danny was so stunned that he just stood there watching the fight.

"Danny if this keeps up I'm going to have to break some bones." Tara said as she began to spin the stick in her hands. As the boys stood up they looked at each other and then back at Tara, grabbing their unconcious friend they ran off.

"I'll get ye for this Tara. If it's the last thing I do!" Danny yelled out as he joined his friends in a run.

After they got out of view, Tara dropped the walking stick and fell to the ground. As she layed there for a while exhausted a slow smile spread across her face.

"I'll never get picked on again." she muttered to herself.

tbc...


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After resting for five minutes Tara felt re-energized. Standing she set off at a run for the town.

"Connor did you see what I did?" Tara asked with a huge smile as Connor materialized beside her.

"Yeah I did." he replied.

"You must have been a good fighter when you were alive." Tara commented as they ran into the city.

"Yeah maybe... but I also noticed something you did on your own."

"What's that?" Tara asked.

"You're not stuttering." Tara beamed at him at that and the two walked into the dollar store. As they bought the ingredients they needed, they walked back to Tara's house.

* * *

After she finished setting up everything, she needed she suddenly remembered something. She had forgotten to put the book back into her father's dresser. As a young child he had always told her to leave that book alone. 'Now if he see's it out of place he'll probably beat me.' she thought to herself.

As she made it to his room she saw the book in question lying on the floor. As she was about to put the book into her father's dresser draw, Conner suddenly stumbles into the room clutching his chest.

"Tara there's something wrong." Connor says as his image started to fade in and out.

"Connor!" Tara yells out. They make eye contact one final time and then Connor's image fades completely. Tara just sat on her father's bed for a few minutes and wept. She had finally made a real friend and now he was gone.

Realizing that maybe he got his wish of crossing over to the other side, she stops her tears. As she looked down at the book in her hands she starts to read it. After skimming through a few passages she finally skips to the last entry her mother wrote.

_Journal entry August 5, 1993_

_I'm sitting here on my death bed. The only thing I can really think about is my little girl Tara. The Doctors don't know what's wrong with me and I seem to be getting sicker and sicker. One thing I can say about this experience is that it finally opened my eyes._

_It had to be a lie that the women in my family are demons. If we really were demons then how could I be dying so easily? I mean I've never heard of a demon getting sick before._

_Tara I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you to watch you grow up. But something unavoidable is happening to me. I wish I could be strong for you. I love your brother to but it seems that he will grow up to be just as hateful as your father. Tara if this is my last day on earth and if you ever see this, I want you to know that I love you. I have to go now, Jed is bringing me some soup._

That was the last entry of the diary. Tara read it three more times and she saw that, that was the same day her mother died. As she started to cry, her tears fell on the book. After a moment the words on the page changed to something different.

_To my loving daughter Tara,_

_Tara I pray that one day you will get a hold of this diary. I put a spell on the pages so that if you ever cried on it that you would get a special message from me. Tara I love you always remember that. And I know that your father is trying to kill me. That's why I want you to run away Tara. _

_Save as much money as you can and run away. You have an aunt named Megan Lennox who lives in Santa fe. Her address is listed in the phone book. Go live with her if you can. I know I'm asking alot of you baby, but I knew that when you were born that you would be special. And I know that you have a very special destiny that you have to fulfill. Being here with your father isn't going to let you fulfill that destiny. Always remember that I love you baby._

_Forever and always_

_Elizabeth Maclay_

Holding in her unshed tears she stood and was about to drop the book in the dresser draw. That was until the door to her father's room opened. Turning she saw the hateful face of her father.

"Tara, what the hell are you doing!?" Tara's father yelled. As he saw the book in her hand he immediately walked up to her and took it out of her hands. Before she could so much as get out a word, he backhanded her across the face.

As she hit the floor her father immediately took off his belt.

"I'll show ye to go through my stuff." A second after he said this Tara's screams echoed throughout the house.

Five Hours later

Connor finally rematerialized and now stood in Tara's bedroom. He spent the last five hours just floating around in a dimensional limbo. Clearing his mind of those negative thoughts he takes in the still form of Tara's body in her dark room.

With a smile on his face he walks up her and nearly faints as he see's all of the bruises and cuts on her body. Her cute little face even had bruises on it. She had her eyes closed, but he could tell that she wasn't asleep.

"What the hell happened to you?" he asked as he sat beside her. Tara was so out of it that she couldn't even lift up her head. As she opened her eyes she saw Connor looking down at her.

"Connor." she manages to get out as she faints. With a scowl on his face, he touches Tara on the forehead, and then vanishes.

* * *

Jed Maclay and his son Donny sat in the living room watching the TV. Actually Donny was watching TV and his father had his Wifes diary in his hand.

'Do you see what your stupidity has caused you Elizabeth?' he thinks to himself. 'I didn't want to do that to Tara.' As he was about to throw the book into the roaring fire of the fireplace, he hears footsteps coming from the hallway. Looking up he see's Tara coming out of the darkness.

"I see ye need another beating, Tara." he said as he stood and took his belt off again. "I told you to stay in your room." As he swings the belt at her she catches it with one hand, and with the other she picks him up off of the floor by the scruff of his shirt.

"I don't think I need to listen to you anymore." she stated coldly as she flung him five feet into the air making him fall onto his reading chair. Sensing someone approaching her from behind, she spun around and backhanded her brother across the face. The force of the blow sent him spinning in the air until he crashed in a heap against the wall.

"Tara what the hell are ye doing?" her fathered demanded, although he was to afraid to stand back up. Tara glanced at him as if he were nothing and she walked slowly up to him.

"I'm leaving you daddy." she replied simply as she snatched the book out of his trembling hands. Returning to the darkness of the hallway she gathers her suitcase and heads out of the door.

As Tara ran out of the house with her bag in hand she made a mad dash for the town. Before she even got a full yard away from the house she heard her father's truck starting up.

Tara could feel the heat of the trucks headlights as it slowly started to barrel down on her. Through a pure act of a miracle, Tara began to run faster then the truck. As they began to reach the city, Tara began to feel the effects of her running so fast.

Panting, legs burning, and out of breath, Tara finally gives out and falls to the ground. Seeing her prone figure lying on the ground, Jed stops his truck and gets out with a sledge hammer in hand.

"See I told you, you were a demon." he accuses as he smacked the sledge hammer against his open palm and strolled up to where Tara lay on the ground, fighting desperately to stay conscious and get up.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this Tara." he said as he lifts the sledge hammer over his head. "But you should have listened to me." as he was about to bring the hammer down on his daughter, a shotgun blast sounded out.

Looking up he see's a tall white man wearing a black shirt with priest's collar. Holding up a smoking twelve gauge shotgun, the man slowly walks up to them.

"Get away from that gurl!" the man shouted with his southern drawl. Jed looked from him to Tara, then he reluctantly stepped back.

"Sweet pea if you can hear me, get up and get in my truck." the man said to Tara, never taking his eyes or shotgun off of Jed. Slowly Tara stood and started to walk slowly to the man's truck.

"Tara you get back here!" her father shouted out at her. Weakly Tara turned around and flashed him, her mothers diary. It was a silent threat that if he messed with her again, that she would give the diary to the police. With her testimony and her mom's diary he would get locked up for a long time.

With that threat delivered, Tara turned back around and got into the strangers beatup pickup truck. As the stranger heard the trucks door close, he walked with his gun held high, up to Jed.

"Listen buddy that's my daughter and...." Jed was cut off as the stranger cocked his shotgun.

"No you listen to me." the man stated clearly agitated."What I saw was a bruised and frightened young girl about to be killed by her so called father. Now I'm a good friend of the sheriff in this town and I think he'll be glad to take you to jail for what you've done." the man stated as he began to walk backwards to his truck.

As he opened the door he lowered his gun and got fully inside of the truck. With a scowl on his face, Jed could only watch as the preacher took off with Tara, into the city.

-

As the two drove towards the sheriff's office in town, the stranger looks over at Tara.

"You're dirty." he says taking his eyes off the road for a second.

"What?" Tara asked wide eyed.

"Your clothes I mean." he specified.

"Oh." she said as she looked down at herself.

"By the way sweetpea, I never got your name." the preacher said as he looked over at the blonde girl.

"M...My name is Tara." she stuttered.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Tara, my name is Caleb."

tbc...


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

After Caleb took Tara to the sheriff's office, he quickly told them what happened. The police then put an APB out on Tara's father and arrested him. The police wanted to keep Tara there so they could find her a safe place to live, but she wanted to look up her Aunt.

Finding only one listing for a Megan Lennox in Santa Fe, they called her and told her what happened. As they got a squad car together to take her there, Caleb offered to take her instead. Feeling strangely safe with him, she accepted to go with Caleb.

"We have alot of driving to do young lady..." Caleb started in a cheerful tone. "So why don't you tell me a little about yourself ?" to his surprise she didn't say anything. Instead she just looked down at her hands.

"Na, I'm - I'm sorry I don't mean to pry."

"Oh no you're not prying." Tara said quickly, looking up at him. "It's just that...." She glanced up and then returned to studying her hands, which were twisted together in her lap.

"All I have to tell you is just all bad stuff." she said with a tear in her eye. She was about to shed some tears until Caleb held her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"Tara, I'm a priest and whatever you say stay's between me and you. I'm not like other people Tara, I'm not going to judge you."

With that said Tara looked up at him with a smile and she told him everything. She told him about her father's and brother's abuse. She even told him about her mother and how she thought she really died.

"I'm real sorry about your mom." Caleb said sincerely. "Instead of doing the things your dad did he should have been protectin' you. God knows I would have protected my little girls."

"Y...you have children?" Tara asked. When she asked him this Caleb's features visibly softened. With a smile on his face he reached in his back pocket and took out his wallet. Opening it he handed it to Tara. There was a picture of Caleb holding onto a beautiful blonde, who had two little girls on her arms.

"The woman is my wife Alyson." Caleb explained. " The little girl with the blonde hair is Tabitha and the oldest with the brown hair is Samantha."

"They are very pretty." Tara said as she handed him his wallet back. Caleb beamed at her until he saw her necklace with a wiccan symbol on it.

"So are you a witch?" he finally asks as he makes a turn down a dirt road.

"Wha... no I'm...."

"By the looks of that necklace I'd say that you're a wiccan." at her look he explained himself.

"Let's just say I wasn't always a preacher." Caleb says with a chuckle.

"As a matter of fact, I want you to have this." he said as he took an all silver cross off of his neck.

"W...what is this for?" she asked as she excepted the cross.

"Well when I was about your age I used to be in all kinds of things. But then just before my ma' died she gave that to me. Every since I had that it's brought me nothin' but good luck."

"But why are you giving it to me?" Tara asked as put it on.

"Because I can feel that there's somethin' special about you Tara." he said as he smiled at her. "And just like that necklace helped me in my dark times, I'm sure that It'll help you."

Before she could respond Caleb pulled into someones driveway. Looking up she saw a huge two story victorian house. Other than it looking really old, it looked creepy as well.

"So this is it sweet pea." Caleb said as he opened his door. "1750 Elm Street."

Before they could do as much as walk up the driveway, an old lady walked out of the house. She had long blonde hair with streaks of gray in it and she was about a foot taller than Tara.

"It's been a long time Tara." she said as she walked up to her and enveloped her in a hug. Tara winced a little at the force of the hug, so her Aunt let go of her.

"Sorry about that..." she said as she noticed a man standing behind Tara. "And who is your friend?"

"H...his..n.. name is Caleb."

"Ah Father Caleb, the man who rescued my Niece. It's a pleasure to meet you." she said as she extended her hand. Once the two shook hands Megan began to hyperventilate and then her eyes turned white for a second. As she held onto Calebs hand, she began to see images. She saw a roaring fire, a large black hulking demon, and then she saw Caleb breaking a young girls neck.

"Ma'am are you Ok?" Caleb asked as he noticed the panic striken woman. Getting a hold of herself, she looked up at him with a smile.

"I'm alright Father Caleb." she said as she released his hand. "Thank you for bringing my niece to me."

"It was a pleasure Ma'am." Caleb replied. "Take care of yourself sweet pea." he said as he got in his truck and left. Megan watched him go with a look of sadness on her face, until she turned and looked back at Tara.

"Come on Tara let's go inside and get you cleaned up. I think you and your friend have alot to tell me."

"My friend?" Tara asked confused.

"Yes, your ghostly friend." she replied as she looked over at Connor.

"You can see me?" he asked wide eyed.

* * *

It was nightfall when Caleb finally made it home. With a smile on his face he took his shotgun from the back seat and walked to his door. His first week as a Priest and he'd helped somebody. 'And I know she's going to grow up to be somebody special.' Caleb thought to himself as he opened his front door.

As he opened the door expecting his wife's kisses and his two girls hugs, he gets nothing. In fact all of the lights in the house are turned off. Fearing the worst he walks fully into the house and begins to call out to them. As he walks by the kitchen door he starts to hear strange noises.

Walking inside of the dark room he see's a shadow of something kneeling down on the ground. As he stumbles around in the dark, he nearly slips on something wet as he flicks on the lights. And almost lost his mind at all the blood and gore on the walls and on the floor.

Looking down by the end of his dinner table he see's something eating on his daughters. His oldest daughter Samantha had her throat ripped out and her little lifeless eyes were staring up at him. With almost super human strength Caleb knocked the thing (who was still eating on his youngest daughter) off of Tabitha.

As the thing straightens itself, it turns and growls at a now wide eyed Caleb. When it turned Caleb got a good look at the things face. It was his wife, or what was left of her. Her body looked battered and beaten and her skin took on an almost dark gray and black complextion. Her once beautiful blonde hair is almost non-existant and her teeth looked as if they belonged to a piranuh. With a snarl she begins to advance on him.

Saying a quick prayer he lifts his gun and shoots her in the head. The force of the shot put's a fist sized hole in her head as she drops to the floor and spasms. Through nerveless fingers Caleb drops his gun and sinks down on his knee's. Ignoring the blood and gore he grabs his two dead daughters into a hug and rocks them back and forth on the floor, as he cries.

Suddenly his wife's body starts to violently shake and her eye's shoot open. With a growl she grabs Calebs legs. As he tries to free himself, he trips on his daughters blood and falls to the ground. As he scrambles back up onto his knees, a black shadow comes out of his wife and enters him.

He falls back down to the ground and tries desperately to expel the demon. As he starts to loose control he hears a voice in his head taunting him. Telling him that it will be his new master. Not being able to take the pain anymore he collapses and is unconcious. As he lies on the floor his eyes suddenly snap open.

They are pitch black like ink and now like the predator he is, a smile spreads across his face.

tbc...


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two days after Chapter four.

Father Caleb quickly walked out of church and headed for his truck, after his sermon. As he was about to open the door, he heard someone shouting his name. Turning he saw a fairly attractive blonde running up to him. Looking at her face good he quickly noted that it was a new member of the church, Sarah.

"Well good evening Sarah. How are you?" he asked as she approached him panting.

"Good evening Father Caleb. I'm doing fine." the girl said panting. "Do you mind driving me home? My car broke down." she said pointing back at her car.

"Not a problem my child." Caleb beamed. "Hop in." he said as he opened the passenger side door. She quickly got in and the two drove off.

"So is it true that your family died in that fire two days ago?" Sarah asked as they drove away from the church. She had heard just like everyone else at the church, that his family was mysteriously burned to death in a fire a couple of days ago. But why he was here preaching and not with some of his family grieving was beyond her.

"Yea' that's true. And I guess you wonderin' why I'm here preachin' and not off somewhere crying my eyes out?" At her nod he continued.

"Well it's because I have to do the lord's work no matter what. Because when I stop it makes me want to curl up and die." Caleb says sadly.

"I wish I could make you feel better." Sarah replied looking glum.

"Actually you can." he says as he looks down at his crouth. Getting the message she leans over and is about to unzip his pants, until Caleb grabs her head and snaps her neck like a twig.

"Women." Caleb says with a wide smile as Sarah's limb body falls on him. "They seem to fall for anything."

"CALEB!" a deep sounding voice shouts in his mind. "Be prepared. Your first mission for me will start shortly."

"Hallelujah!" Caleb say with a mad man's grin as he kept driving.

a few seconds after the fourth chapter

After Megan, Tara, and Connor made it into her house, Megan quickly explained herself. She told them that she used to work for the Watchers Council as a Witch for the Coven. And one of her powers as a witch was the gift of sight. So she knew all along what was going on with Tara.

As they moved on to other matters, Tara clued Megan in on her life and told her a little about Connor.

"So you want to move on to the after-life?" Megan asked looking over at Connor.

"Yeah I do." Connor replied as he looked over at Tara nervously. "Now that I know Tara is safe, I can move on with no worries."

"But I don't want you to go." Tara said sadly. Even though she only knew Connor for a couple of days, he'd been more of a brother to her then Donny had ever been.

Connor smiled sadly at her as he walked in front of her.

"Tara you know I care about you right?" at her nod he continued. "But I think this is for the best. You're beautiful, young, smart, and you have a good heart. But me....well I'm just a ghost. I want you to have friends and live a long happy life. Having a ghost around would just be.... weird." Tara seemed to accept that and held in her tears.

"All I need is the proper spell so I can send you to the after-life." Megan stated through the ackward silence. As she was about to get up and consult her book of spells, Tara stopped her.

"I already have the spell, just let me get my book." she said as she walked over to her suitcase and took out her spellbook.

* * *

Tara,Connor, and Megan sat indian style in a circle, after thirty minutes of setting up and going over the spell. As Megan began the encantation the one candle they had burning in the middle of the circle suddenly flares. As the light got brighter and brighter, the room began to fill with smoke. 

As the smoke began to dissipate Connor looked over at Megan and Tara. Both of them weren't moving and it didn't seem like they were breathing either. They were still sitting up with their eyes open, but it was like they were frozen in place.

Before he could go over and check on them a light flashed behind him. Turning he saw a beautiful white woman with short brown hair and she was wearing all white.

"Wh...who are you." Connor asked startled.

"My name is Cordelia." she replied with an easy smile.

"Ok Cordelia, why are you here?" Connor asked as he stood to his feet. "Are you going to send me to the After-life?" When he asked this Cordelia just smiled. That smile turned into a snicker. Then that snicker turned into a full blown laugh.

"What's so funny?" Connor asked as her laughing began to die down some.

"I'm laughing at you Angel." she said with a big grin. "Are you going to send me to the after-life?" she mocked his voice and then broke down into another fit of giggles.

"Wait what did you just call me?"

"I called you Angel." he just stared at her blankly. "You know your name. God, the powers must have sent you back without your memories." she said as comprehension finally dawned on her.

"The powers? Cordelia please tell me what's going on?" Connor asked as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Well first your name is Angel and.....Oh just hold still." she said as she moved closer to him. He stepped back as if on reflex and she lowered her hands with a sad look on her face. That quickly turned into a scowl.

"Hold still you big baby." Cordelia screeched. Causing Connor and even herself to wince at the sound of her voice.

"Listen lady I don't know who you are but...."

"Angel just hold still so I can give you your memories back." Cordelia said in a much more gentle tone. Connor looked at her skeptically at first, but then he nodded his head and held still.

Cordelia moved over to him and put both hands on either side of his head. A white light emanted from her hands and Connor started to see images. Not just any old images but his past, dates, faces, enemies, all most everything.

As the light from her hands began to fade, Connor began to stagger back and hold his head as if he had a headache.

"Are you ok Angel?" Cordelia asked as she looked up at him.

"I'm fine Cordy, but I want some answers." Angel said in full brood face.

"That's my boy. Big, Bad, and Broody is back." she said with a smile. At the ghostly vampire's glare she relented. "Spoil's sport."

"Cordy." Angel said, his patience wearing thin.

"Alright, alright." she said as she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "When you were in the battle with the Circle of the Blackthorn's army you got dusted. Only it wasn't supposed to happen like that. You and Illyria were supposed to live. You were supposed to Shanshu."

"Cordy that's impossible. I signed away at ever having a chance at being human."

"Angel what's meant to be is meant to be. You can't sign away a prophecy." Angel thought about this for a second and nodded his head.

"Ok but what am I doing here in 1997, shouldn't I be.....I don't know, rotting in hell?" Angel asked bitterly. Cordelia looked at him strangely before she replied.

"Angel I don't think you understand, you've been redeemed."

"Redeemed to live my life as a ghost.... whoopty doo." 'I bet Spike would laugh his ass off at this.' Angel thought to himself.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that. You were supposed to turn human and die of old age. None of this craziness was supposed to happen."

"Alright but what am I doing here?" he asked again. Cordelia sighed before she sat down on the floor next to Tara.

"Basically after you died the powers got kind of edgey. You see Spike and Gunn died down that alley...."

Angel looked heart broken at this news. Gunn was a trusted ally and friend and it just didn't seem fair for him to die like that. As for Spike...Well he still hated Spike but he had to admit he gave his life to save the world.

"It was just supposed to be you and Illyria. You two were supposed to be fighting back to back until the army was defeated. But shortly after you got dusted Illyria was killed herself"

"Ok I understand that, but why is this important?" Angel asked a little annoyed.

"It's important because since you killed Droygon, there was no one to watch over the old ones. Angel the future turned out really bad because of that mistake you made. Something evil awakened the old ones and now they are wreaking havok on the world. If Illyria had of lived she was supposed to be the next guardian of the deeper well."

"What about Buffy and all of the other's? Didn't they try to stop what was going on?" Cordy looked down at her feet before she met his gaze.

"They didn't make it Angel. Buffy, Willow, Xander, they're all dead."

"So why did the powers send me back here?"

"Because they wanted to give you a second chance." Cordy replied.

"A second chance?" Angel scoffed. "I'm a freakin' ghost."

"That's were she comes in." Cordy said looking over at Tara.

"Her, she's just a kid."

"Maybe, but a few years down the road and she's going to fight against the darkness. And let me tell you Angel she's going to die. That was also a problem in itself, she wasn't supposed to die that young. She had something important to do in her life and some crazy kid comes along and ends it."

Angel looked at her and could barely control his rage. He wasn't mad at Cordy but he was mad that someone would even try to hurt Tara. She was shy, but over all she was a good kid.

"So what do the powers have in mind?" he finally asked after a moment of deep brooding.

"They want you to join with Tara's soul."

"What!" Angel exploded. "Why not put me back in my old body?"

"Because there are things that Angel and later Angelus must do, that must come to pass. Besides there has to be a balance of good and evil. And with you protecting her she might have a chance at living longer then a few years. Plus, she gets your powers, along with a few other ones." After a few more minutes of brooding Angel sighed and moved over to Cordy.

"Ok what do I do?" he asked.

"That's my boy." Cordelia beamed as she got to her feet. "All you have to do is hold your hands over Tara and concentrate. You're going to feel weird for awhile and then you will fade into her body."

"How long will I be inside her?" Cordelia sighed. 'Damn why does he have so many questions.'

"I don't know. I'm guessing probably after your mission is over." Angel then gave her a look. "Just think of all of the things you get to change this time around Angel. All the people you get to save. Why do you think I suggested that they send you back this far in the past. Duh...it was so you could change things."

"Alright." Angel agreed.

"I'll see you in the afterlife sometime." Cordy said as she turned to leave.

"Wait Cordy!" Angel shouted as she began to fade.

"Yeah." Cordy said looking back at him.

"You have nice hair." he said with a smile.

Cordy smiled back at him and then she faded away. Angel looked back at Tara, who was still frozen in place.

"Your life is going to change forever, kid." he said as he put his hand in front of her face. He stood there for a few minutes until he himself faded away.

tbc...

A/N angelsdb's account was deleted so he told me to continue on with his story. He really hopes that he can get his old fans back.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Three months had passed since Angel joined with Tara. It was extremely hard to convince Tara that the both of them had a destiny to fulfill, but after her aunt talked to her and told her what her new destiny held, she reluctantly agreed.

True to Cordelia's word, Tara gained the powers of a vampire. The speed, strength, senses, all of them were at her disposal. Except she ws a bit stronger then a normal vampire. The only thing was when she tried to use the speed and strength, she would burn out pretty quickly. Tara already had the moves but without her body being conditioned, she could hurt herself or get herself killed. Besides Angel wouldn't let her patrol yet without knowing that she would be safe.

So her aunt Megan had the idea of making her join the local kung-fu chapter, led under Master Tao. Tara quickly became Master Tao's star pupil and he often told her that he could sense an old spirit inside of her. Whenever Tara wasn't training or relaxing with Angel, her aunt would teach her magick.

Not all of it was white magic though, like healing spells and levitation. Some of it was dark magic like making fire balls and producing lightning. Angel didn't like the idea of Megan teaching Tara things like that but for the things he had planned, she would need all of the advantage as she could get. Besides Tara was a natural at the magick's stuff. She wouldn't be so easily led by the magick's, she could control herself.

Angel then had Megan open up a bank account for Tara. Not knowing why she reluctantly did so.(She was reluctant to do so because neither her or Tara had that much money.) As Tara called a number that Angel whispered into her mind, he talked through her in his own voice.

It seems that when Angelus was around he killed alot of rich people in Europe. With the money he got from them he set up a bank account for himself. (Didn't you ever wonder how Angel could afford all that stuff in the show. I had to do some research to find this stuff out.) When he became Angel however he had Whistler take out a certain amount, so he could get started on his destiny.

But the thing was he still had over 500,000 dollars still left in the account. By using his voice through Tara he had the bank transfer 100,000 over to her account. He wanted Tara to be prepared for the things that go bump in the night and also he wanted her to have nice things. As he was inside of her body he had access to her memories and he saw how bad they were.

* * *

Megan finally made it down to the front door under it's constant pounding. As she opened the door she saw Father Caleb along with what seemed to be monks. What was odd about them though was that they had their hoods over their heads so she couldn't see their faces. 

"Hello Father Caleb." Megan tried to sound cheerful, but she was a bit creeped out. "What brings you by?"

"Well me and my boys were just in the neighborhood and I decided to check on sweetpea." he replied with an easy smile.

"Well ahhh....Tara isn't here right now. She'll be back later on today. Maybe you can come back later." she said as she started to close the door.

"I'm sorry...." Caleb said as he stopped the door from closing with his foot. "but this message has to be delivered right away." he said with an evil grin. Pushing Megan back into the house, he and his boys entered her home. After a few seconds, Megans screams filled the house.

As the bringers took the mutilated body of Megan away, Caleb sat down on her couch and propped his feet up on the the coffee table. Part of his first mission for the first had gone successful and he felt good about it.

The first had sensed something wrong. It sensed something good and just not right in general coming from this house. Caleb immediately thought that it must be Tara, because when he first met her, he felt something different and special about her.

As Caleb sat there on the couch a bright light emanted, making him snap out of his musings. Looking up he saw the fiery visage of what looked to be a man. Even though the face wasn't speaking it was still communicating with him. It was commanding him to leave.

With fear evident in his eyes, Caleb stood and slowly walked to the door. Knowing full well who the being is now he runs to his truck and drives off. leaving the three bringers behind.

* * *

It was nightfall when Tara finally made it home. After her final lesson from Master Tao, her and Angel went shopping. With the money she now had in her account she bought alot of new clothes and a leather duster. 

As she opened the door to the house she paused. The house was silent, a little too silent. As she walked over the treshold she began to look around. Not seeing anything unusual or out of place in the living room, she went to another room and another.

As she walked past the upstairs bathroom she saw small trickles of a red substance on the carpet. Using her vampiric senses she took a whiff of it and determined that it was blood. With shaky hands she opened the bathroom and nearly fainted at what she saw.

There was blood everywhere. The floor, the walls, and even the bathroom mirror were covered with blood. What was wierd was that the shower curtains were drawn up. Ignoring all of her bodies protest's (including Angel's) to run, she slowly walked up to the curtains.

Before she was able to draw the curtains open, she felt a presense behind her. Turning she jumped back just in time to avoid a knife slash. Looking up at her would be attacker she see's that it's a monk with a curved knife in his hands.

As he tries another slash, Tara grabs his dagger hand, pulls him close and then punches him in the neck. Instantly knocking him unconcious. Looking over the limp form of the monk she was holding onto, she see's two more of them standing at the door.

But this time she get's a good look at the monk. It has no eyes, but instead has runes branded in the flesh where eyes should be.

'Tara kill these guys' Angel whispered into her mind.

'I can't. These guys are human' she thought back to him.

'Tara I don't remember everything about my past or future or .....whatever..... but just trust me these guys aren't human.'

Their mental conversation only lasted about a few seconds. Her decision made, she snapped the bringers neck that she was holding. Before he fell to the ground she grabbed the knife out of his hand. As if provoked by her sudden action, the bringers slowly walked into the small room.

Tara manages to throw one bringer against the wall, but it bounces back, almost stabbing her through the gut with his knife. Tara then kicks the bringer in the stomach making it lean over, then she spins across his back, and kicks the other bringer. Going with the momentum she turns plunges the dagger in the first bringer and without even turning she throws the dagger and it impales the one that was behind her.

After a moment of steeling herself, she leans over by the toliet and begins to vomit. After nothing more would come out of her, she sank to her knees and began to cry. Without having to be told she knew what was behind the curtains. With shaky legs she walked down to the living room and called the police, for it seemed that her mission had just begun.

tbc...


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any character in this fanfic, unless I make them up. This goes for all chapters.

Thanks for the review Home and Charmed. I'm glad that at least one person is reading. It seems that I can't get any of the old fans of this fanfic back, that's a real bummer.

anyway on with the next chapter

Chapter 7

It didn't take more then fifteen minutes until the police arrived. Tara decided to wait for them outside on the porch, not only because of what happened in the house, but because of her new found vampiric senses. They were going on overload, because she smelled all of that blood in the house.

The police would just come and go, asking her questions and dissappearing into the house. That was until she noticed three of them looking at her intently. Looking up she saw a man dressed all in black and he had short blond hair. Kinda like a crew cut. What was most distinctive about him though was that he was wearing dark sunglasses at night.

Looking past him she saw a young woman, probably seven years her senior. She was very attractive, she had short brown hair, and a pair of legs that seemed to go on forever.

'Whoa where did that thought come from?' Tara thought to herself. Before she could get an answer to the question she asked herself, one of the officers approached her. He was the one that she didn't get a good look at before. He was tall, very handsome, and he had spikey brown hair. All in all he kind of reminded her of Angel.

"Hey." the officer said with an easy smile. "Do you mind if I sit down?"

Tara just looked up at him and then she moved over. Giving him just enough space to sit down. Taking it as an invitation he sat down beside her.

"Listen, I'm sorry about your aunt." he said honestly. "I know how it feels to lose a loved one."

"Who did you lose?" Tara asked as unshed tears stung at her eyes.

"I lost both of my parents." he replied after a moments hesitation. " I was about your age when some drunk decided to go driving. It was real hard losing them but I learned to survive. I had to anyway because I had to raise my baby sister, Claire. Wait I'm sorry I never told you my name." he said as he extended his hand.

"My name is Redfield. Chris Redfield."

"I'm Tara Maclay." she said as they both shook hands.

"Well Tara now that your aunt is.....gone where are you going to go?"

"She's going to Sunnydale." a booming voice answered for her. Looking up, she saw the officer with the sunglasses and the short blond hair. The pretty lady with the short brown hair was standing behind him reading some papers.

"Oh I'm sorry Tara. This is Captain Albert Wesker and her name is Jill Valentine." he said as he pointed at them each in turn. "We were just in town recruiting some new members for S.T.A.R.S. and we heard the call that there was trouble in the neighborhood." he shrugged.

"So we decided to come and help the local cops."

Tara for the most part didn't hear most of what Chris was saying. She just stared at Wesker. Something about the guy just didn't seem right. Instead of the aura colors she would usually see, like red and purple, his was just black.

"Tara are you ok?" Chris asked as he shook her arm.

"What... oh sorry." Tara apologized. "Now what were you saying about me going to Sunnydale?" she asked looking intently at Wesker, who was looking just as hard at her.

"It seems that your aunt was in correspondence with a Mr. Rupert Giles." Jill said looking up from the report she was reading. "It says here that if anything were to happen to her that you would be sent to him, so he would act as your guardian."

All the time Jill was explaining this to her, Tara just stared at Wesker. And in turn he kept staring at her. After a moment however, Wesker lost the staring contest and took the file out of Jills hands.

"I've been reading the reports too." he said as he flipped through a couple of pages. "It says here that when these devil whorshippers attacked you, you managed to kill all three of them. How the hell did you manage that?" he asked as he handed the file back over to Jill.

Tara just shrugged. "I've been taking karate classes for three months." at his look, that she knew he was giving her under those sunglasses, she added. "Let's just say that I have a good teacher."

"Impressive, maybe one day when you get older you can join the S.T.A.R.S." Wesker said, still with the mask of indifference on his face.

"Captain Wesker...." a police officer shouted as he ran up to the group. "Lt. Farlend wants to talk to you sir."

"Alright, Valentine you're with me and Redfield..... you stay with her." he said as he nodded at Tara and walked off, with Jill in hot pursuit.

"Don't mind him." Chris said as he turned his head to look at Tara. "He comes off as a real hard ass but he's a decent guy." Tara just gave him a look and the two started talking.

Tara told him a little about her life and Chris told her mostly all about his.

"So Chris, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, what's up?"

"If you could avenge the deaths of your parents, would you do it?"

Chris looked at her hard and long before he replied. Almost as if he thought that Tara would try to do something crazy. But after talking to her, he quickly dismissed that thought. 'Tara's a pretty good kid, I don't think she would do anything crazy.' he thought to himself.

"I would avenge them in a heart beat." he said after a moments pause. Tara just shook her head in understanding and stood to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Chris asked as he to stood to his feet.

"I have to go and pack a bag. I can't stay here."

"Yeah, of course. I'm sure the local Santa Fe police have a hotel waiting for you anyway."

With that said Tara ran in the house and went into her room. Picking up the shopping bag that she bought earlier, she takes out her leather duster. As she throws it on the bed, she reaches into her weapons trunk. Lifting up the false bottom, she takes out a sword and a stake.

'Tara, what are you doing?' Angel whispers into her mind.

'I'm going on patrol.' Tara replies angrily as she twirls a sword in her hand.

Angel was taken aback by her sudden attitude change. He understood that her aunt was murdered but something seemed off about her. He remembered as if it were just yesterday that she used to be so sweet and shy.

Now she seemed just like.....him. 'Now it finally makes sense.' he thought to himself. For the past couple of months Tara started to change. Not just her stuttering problem, but also the way she carried herself. She was much more confident, more sure of herself. And her fighting skills could even rival his own. 'Maybe when we joined souls we became almost one in the same.' Angel thought to himself.

Snapping out of his musings he noticed that she changed her clothes. She was now wearing all black and her new leather duster. As she moved towards the window, Angel called out to her once again.

'Tara, where are you going?'

'I'm going to send a message to the demonic community.' Tara said as she opened the window. With a grim look on her face she jumped out of the window. Bracing her legs to absorb the impact of the twenty foot fall, she quickly ran out into the night.

"Hey Tara, do you need any help packing?" Chris asked as he walked up to her bedroom door. When he didn't get an answer he opened the door and found it empty.

"Tara?" he said as he walked fully into the room. "Hey have you seen the kid that lives here?" Chris asked a cop as he passed by the door. The cop shook his head no, so Chris went to find Wesker.

When he found him he was in a deep conversation with Jill and Lt. Farlend.

"Sir Tara's gone."

"What!" Wesker exploded. "Damnit Redfield, you were supposed to watch her."

"She said that she had to pack some of her stuff..." Chris replied as he ran his hand through his hair nervously. "but when I went up to her room she was gone."

"Alright." Wesker said after he calmed down a bit. "Lt. do you mind if me and Valentine join you in the search party?" The Lt. just nodded his head.

"Ok, Valentine you're with me, Redfield you stay here just in case the girl comes back."

"Yes sir."

"Then let's go." Wesker ordered. Jill gave Chris a sympathetic glance and then joined Wesker and the others.

"Damnit kid, where are you?" Chris muttered to himself.

* * *

Tara stood on top of a skyscraper over-looking the city. A myserious wind blew making her duster billow in the wind like a cape. Crouching down on the edge of the roof she began to scan over the city. 

As she scanned the city she began to hear everything. Well everything her new vampiric senses would allow. She heard cars honking and babies crying for their moms to pick them up. But then she heard it. What she had been waiting to hear since she'd been on the roof. She heard a woman's scream.

Standing she began to take off at a run. Jumping from rooftop to rooftop she began to run in the direction of the scream.

* * *

Kira and her friend Laura were enjoying their time off from college. They had time to catch up with old friends and hit the clubs of Santa Fe. They even hooked up with two handsome guys. As they led the way to their apartment for some drinks, three guys emerged out of the shadows. 

The girls visably relaxed though when the guys who they picked up, stood in front of them and got into fighting positions. As the three guys came closer, the two guys they picked up started laughing to each other and joined the other three.

"What the hell is going on?" Kira asked as the guy named Tom started to push her down the alley.

"Well after we have some fun...." he started as he looked at her up and down. "We're going to eat..." he said as his face turned into something demonic, which made Kira scream. Laura however tried to fight back, but one of the vamps hit her on the jaw nearly knocking her unconcious.

So they wouldn't make a scene out in public, they shoved the girls down the nearest alley.

As one, the demons seemed to sense an unknown presense behind them. It was a sense none of them had ever felt before. It felt good and pure like...like...no they didn't want to think about that.

Turning , they saw a woman in a black leather coat with a cascade of honey blonde hair that went past her shoulders.

Her hips swayed and creaked in their leather pants as she shifted from foot to foot. Her boots made an eerie clicking sound in the dead silence of the alley as she walked closer to the demons. With a scowl on her face she drew her sword from the back of her duster and stopped ten feet from the vamps.

"Hello gentleman." she said slowly. "I just wanted you all to know that I'm going to personally kill each and every one of you."

With that said the vampires growled and sprang together as one. Tara grabbed one and swung him around and slammed him into another couple of minions. she slammed her foot down on the neck of one of the vampires severing it.

At the same time Tara struck out blindly with an elbow catching another vampire on the chin, dropping him to the ground. Spinning around she tried to keep away from allowing any of the vampires from getting near her back. One vampire jumped off a dumpster and clapped an arm around her neck. Tara dropped to a knee and flipped the unfortunate vampire forward unto his back. With one swing of her sword, she severed his head and he turned to dust.

Looking up she saw a vamp jump in the air and try to pounce on her. In one quick motion she did a spin, drew a stake from a pocket in her duster and plunged it into the heart of the vamp as he came down behind her. Before she was able to look up, her face was met with one of the vamps fist's. The force of the blow sent her to the ground were her sword and stake fell beside her.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Tara shouts as her eyes flash an eerie blue. Doing a flip to get back to her feet she struck out with a rainbow kick, that the vampire smoothly slid under, until she dropped down to the ground and did a leg sweep on him, sending the vamp sprawling to the ground.

Tapping into her magical abilities she made the stake that fell to the ground levitate into her hand. Leaning over she staked the vampire as he let out a final scream. Turning she looked over at the girls and saw that one vampire was still holding onto them.

This one was looking at her wide eyed and was shaking with fear. Walking over to them, the vamp let go of the girls and attempted to walk away. Using vampiric speed Tara grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off of his feet. With bone- jarring force she pushed him up against an alley wall. Leaning in close she began to whisper in his ear.

"I want you to deliver a message to the demonic community. I want you to tell them that there's a new player in town."

"Wh...what are you." The vamp managed to stutter out. Tara seemed to think about it for a minute and then Angel whispered in her mind.

"Tell them that I'm the Seraphim." she said as she let him go. As soon as she did the vamp ran out of the mouth of the alley and didn't turn back. Tara walked back and retrieved her sword and was about to walk out of the alley until one of the girls called out to her.

"Wh...who are you?" Laura asked.

"I'm the hero." Tara replied sadly as she kept walking and didn't turn around.

tbc...


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any character in this fanfic, unless I make them up. This goes for all chapters.

Thanks for the reviews and I'm real happy to get you back BAKAMAN. To answer your question though, in heaven they have different classes of angels. A Seraphim is the highest order of an Angel. So I thought it was fitting that since Angel possesed her that she should have a name similar to his.

So you can imagine how scared demons are, once she tells them that she's an Angel. I'll explain to you later why they think she's an angel and why it's going to be important to the story.

Also try looking at chapter six again. If it doesn't work give me your email address and I'll send it to you.

on with the next chapter

Chapter 8

"Kid where the hell have you been?" Chris asked as Tara walked into the house.

"I've been out walking. Just trying to clear my head." she replies as she walks past him. He ignored the fact that she was wearing all leather, so he could just take a good look at her. She looked tired. Just like his sister Claire did when he had to tell her that their parents died.

"Well since you've been gone me and some of the other cops, already packed up your stuff."

"That's fine." Tara replied with not much emotion. Chris just looked at her with a pained expression on his face. As if he had to relive a part of his own life.

"You look tired, so come on I'll take you to your hotel." he said as he walked over to the door. Tara took one last look at the house, that she called her home for the last three months. With a sigh she walked out the door.

-

After ten minutes of driving in silence, Tara looks over at Chris and starts to make conversation.

"So what's going to happen to my aunt's body?"

Chris let out a sigh before he answered. "Well according to your aunt's lawyer, as soon as she died she wanted to be cremated. I think before we left that Captain Wesker said that her ceremony is going to be tomorrow."

"Ok, well what about my stuff?"

"No offense but there really wasn't much, so we just put your clothes in that big trunk of yours. If you wanted anything else from the house you can get it tomorrow."

"Speaking of stuff, what's going to happen to my aunt's possessions?"

"That I really don't know anything about. All I know is that she had a will, so you're going to have to find out tomorrow."

Before Tara could ask another question they arrived at her hotel. Without another word Tara got out of the car, walked into the hotel, retrived her key, and started to walk to her room before Chris was able to catch up with her.

"Hey Tara!" Chris shouted out her name to get her attention. As she turned around he saw the first signs of tears about to fall from her eyes. 'Damn I better make this quick.' Chris thought to himself.

"Listen.... ahhhh, I'm going to be in town until after your aunt's ceremony, I was hoping maybe we could stay in touch."

"Th...that would be nice." Tara replied kind of sleepily.

"Alright, here's my number." he said as he handed her a card with the S.T.A.R.S. logo on it.

"If you need anything or if you need to talk to someone, just call me."

"Thanks Chris." Tara replied as she engulfed him in a hug. Before she knew what was going on she broke down and started crying. She wasn't just crying over the death of her aunt, but she was crying over the events of her life. All the times she was beat, abused, and told that she was worthless came to her mind.

She didn't even hear Chris as he tried to comfort her, all she could do was just cry.

* * *

Tara sat bolt upright in bed, heart pounding. Light flooded her eyes as she became instantly alert, scanning her surroundings. What had happened? Where was she?

Then bizarre events of the previous night came back to her, and her breathing and heart rate gradually slowed to normal. With a quick glance around she saw Chris snoring lightly in a chair beside her bed.

"Chris." Tara says as she sits up fully in bed.

"Wha.... I'm awake, I'm awake." Chris says as he snaps his eyes open. "Oh, kid you're up."

"How did I get here?"

"You were a wreck last night, kid." Chris said as he stood and strecthed his legs. "I had to practically carry you to bed."

"I'm sorry about that." Tara replied as she looked down at her hands.

"Don't be. Believe it or not but that wasn't the first time I had to do that." he said with a sad smile.

His sister Claire was the same way. At first she wouldn't cry over the death of their parents, but one day after Chris got home from a hard days work, Claire just looked at him and broke down. It was like at that moment she realized that her parents weren't coming back. Snapping out of his musings he saw Tara get up and head to the bathroom. Before she closed the door he called out to her.

"There's only about four more hours left before your aunt's ceremony. So let's get some breakfast and then head over to your house and get the rest of your stuff."

"Why do I have to get my stuff so soon?" Tara asked between yawns.

"Well school starts in a few days, so after the ceremony is over we have to send you straight to Sunnydale."

"Alright, I'll be out in a second, I just need to take a shower."

"Take your time. I'll be waiting for you in the car."

With that said Tara went into the bathroom and took her shower. As promised Chris took her back to the place she had called home for the past three months. There was yellow crime scene tape still up around the house and it seemed to only serve as a reminder of what happened.

Steeling herself she went into the house and gathered the few things, that were of value to her in the house. That job was made easy because most of the stuff she had was already packed up.

* * *

Even though Tara's Aunt was well loved in the neighborhood, not alot of people came to pay their last respects. Before Tara walked away from her Aunt's urn, her lawyer showed up. Megan had a million dollar life insurance policy and since Tara was her closet living relative, it all went to her. But the problem was she couldn't get the money until she turned 18. Upon Tara's 18th birthday she would also get the monetary value for her Aunt's house and property.

With a sad smile Tara left the church and got in the car with Chris. As they headed to the bus station, Tara decided she wanted to say goodbye to Master Tao.

"Master are you here?" Tara asked as she walked into his dojo. After a beat an elderly japanese man walked out of a backroom.

"Ahhh Tara it's good to see you." Master Tao said while looking up at her. "I heard about your Aunt and you have my deepest sympathy."

"Thank you Master." Tara said with a bow. "I just came by to tell you that I'm moving away." When she said this he looked at her with wide eyes. For these short few month's Tara was more than just a student to him. She was more like a daughter.

She was quiet, shy, and she just had this quality about her that made you instinctively like her. Tao also knew about Tara's family. Her father was in jail for child abuse and murder, plus the rest of her family disowned her. With a thought forming in his head, he excused himself and ran to the back. As he reappeared he was holding two golden bracelets in his hands.

"Tara I would like you to have these." he said as he handed the bracelets over. Tara looked at him and then at the bracelets with wide eyes. They were made out of pure gold with weird runes on them and they had a green emerald in the center of both of them. All in all they looked very expensive.

"I can't take these Master." Tara said as she handed them back to him.

"Nonsense my child." he said as hr handed them back. "These are called Dragon Gaunlets and they have been in my family for over ten generations. However I don't have anyone to pass them down to." he said kind of sadly.

"But, since you are the closet thing I have to a daughter, I would like you to have them."

Tara was about to reply to that, until she saw the stern look on her teachers face. With a bow and a thank you, Tara put the gaunlets on and walked out of the dojo. None of them however saw the gems on the gaunlets flash a brilliant green as Tara walked out.

* * *

As Tara said her goodbyes to Chris, she walked over to the bus counter and got her ticket. As she was about to get on the bus, she saw crosses hanging on the door and a few of the windows. With a curious glance at the bus driver, she thought that maybe her and Angel weren't the only ones who knew of the darkness.

Shrugging that thought off, she got on the bus and took a seat. As the bus slowly lurched forward, Tara began to look out the window. Ignoring the scenery she began to think on the adventures she would have in Sunnydale.

tbc...

by the by I originally planned for the ghost that was haunting Tara to be Wesley. But I thought the story would be alot more interesting with it being Angel. Also be prepared for a few Buffy and Angelverse crossovers in the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 9

To answer your question BAKAMAN this is going to be the beginning of season 2 so all of what happened in season one is over with. After this chapter I will start with the episode "When she was bad."

I promise you one thing though this fanfic will be very interesting. And wait until you see who the big bad will be for this season.

On with the chapter

Chapter 9

Tara woke up with a smile on her face. She had another bad dream, but Angel was there at the end to kill off the bad guys. After he ran the bad men off he would hold her and tell her how special she was.

Snapping out of her happy musings, she glances outside. She frowns though as she looks out into the night. She can sense all of the evil that's barely contained in this place. Her scowl quickly turned into a look of confusion as the bus slowed down and pulled to the side of the road.

Looking around the bus she see's that it's almost empty. When she first got on the bus however, it was almost full, so she had to sit in the back.

"God, how long have I been asleep?" Tara muttered to herself. As she looked down at her watch, she noticed that her Dragon Gaunlets were gone. Before she could jump to conclusions that someone might have stolen them, they reappeared on her wrists in golden and white lights.

"What the...."

"Hey kid......it's the end of the road." the bus driver said as he stood to his feet. Tara glanced up at him and then she noticed that all of the other passengers were gone. With a sigh she gathered her bag and got off of the bus. Before she got a mere five feet from the bus, she looked up and saw a sign that told her that she was in L.A.

Sending an accusing glare at the bus driver he quickly explained.

"The bus was running out of gas. It'll be awhile before it's ready to be back on the road. Meet me back here in about thirty minutes." he said as he dissappeared into the bus and drove off.

Tara found the nearest payphone and called Mr. Giles (Chris gave her the number). As she explained to him that the bus was delayed, he offered to come and pick her up. As she declined the offer she heard a scream. Quickly excusing herself she hung up the phone and ran into the direction of the scream.

As she arrived on the scene (she was lurking behind some bushes to see what was going on first), she saw a teenaged girl on the ground with a large black demon standing over her. Quickly reaching into her bag for a weapon, she only pulls out a stake.

Cursing herself for not bringing better weapons, she walked out from the bushes and was about to jump in the fray, until she heard an inarticulate growl. Looking up she see's a man with a machette in hand, running towards the demon. He had short brown hair and he wore tight blue jeans. All in all he looked like a cowboy.

Putting her stake down to her side, she watches the guy as he starts his assault on the demon. With a few viscious slashes from the machette, the massive beast falls down to the ground, dead. As the guy slowly walks over to the girl to see if she's okay, Tara notices another one of the demons running up behind the boy.

Seeing that the boy wouldn't be able to turn around in time, Tara taps into her vampiric speed and football tackles the demon. As they roll on the ground struggling, Tara manages to get on top of it and snaps it's neck.

Letting the dead demon fall fully to the ground, she turns and see's that the boy is staring intently at her. As the girl they had saved fled the scene the guy walks over to Tara with a smile on his face.

"Thanks for the help." he said as he glanced down at the now decaying demon body. "My names Pike." he said as he extended his hand.

"Tara." she said simply as they shook hands.

"Well Tara are you from around these parks?" Pike asked, making conversation.

"No, but I'm heading to Sunnydale."

"Sunnydale huh..." Pike says as he wipes his blade off on the grass. "That's about two hours away, do you need a lift?" Tara seemed to think about that before she replied.

"Well seeing that I missed my bus." she said as she looked down at her watch. "I think I'll take you up on your offer."

"Your chariot awaits." Pike said with a little bow as he walked her to his motorcycle.

As Tara got on his hog a thought struck her.

"Hey before we go to Sunnydale, do you mind taking me to see an old friend?" Tara asked.

"Not a problem." Pike replied as he started up the engine.

* * *

Pike was mildly surprised when Tara directed him to the warehouse district of down town LA. Shrugging it off he watched As Tara knocked on the door of an abandoned looking warehouse. 

"What!" a young white kid growled as he opened the door.

"Yeah is Charles Gunn here?" Tara asked. The kid looked at Tara suspiciously at that.

"There's no Charles Gunn here." he said as he started to close the door, only for Tara to wedge her foot in it.

"Oh but I think he is here. Tell him that an old friend wants to see him." Tara said, with her voice almost commanding him to do it. The boy let out an audible sigh as he walked back into the warehouse. A moment later a tall, bald, black kid stood at the door.

With Angel looking through Tara's eyes, he didn't see a boy at all. He saw a man. Someone who gave his life for a cause few even knew about.

"Yo, what the hell do you want?" Gunn asked already agitated.

"Are you Charles Gunn?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, now what the hell do you want?" Gunn asked with a scowl.

"I just... I just wanted you to know that there's a higher power watching you." Tara replied lamely. Angel told her to come all this way, but he couldn't tell her a thing to say.

"Listen, I don't need some uppity white bitch coming down here telling me about God. I don't believe in all of that stuff no mo'."

"You should, because he believes in you." that only seemed to get Gunn madder.

"You don't know a damn thing about me. Now get the hell out of here." Gunn shouted dismissively as he turned to leave. Seeing his opportunity to get Gunn as an allie fly out of the window, Angel begins to whisper into Tara's mind.

"When you were a little kid - in a shelter on Plummer Street. The second floor was all rotted out. - You used to dare kids to cross, and of course you were the best at it, because you were the - you were the bravest. Your sister Alonna wanted to be like you so bad, so she went up, and the floor gave out. She would have broken her neck, but - you'd been watching her the whole time. You were standing right below - and you caught her."

When she finished telling the story Gunn stopped dead in his tracks. Turning, with his eyes dancing with fury, he grabbed Tara roughly around the arm.

"How the hell do you know about that?" he demanded. "How the hell do you know about Alonna?"

"Like I said..." Tara started as she jerked her arm free. "You have people in high places watching you."

"Like I'm supposed to believe that?" Gunn asked. "I got people in there starving to death and getting killed off by vamps and you want me to believe that God loves me. What a joke."

"Listen I know this isn't much..." Tara replied as she reached into her pocket and wrote a check. "But this should help with the food situation, for awhile." she said as she handed him the check. His eyes almost bugged out of it's sockets as he saw that she had given him over five thousand dollars.

"I'll come back here hopefully on the weekend and maybe we can talk about your vampire problem."

"Yeah I think I'd like that." Gunn said totally confused as he put the check in his pocket.

"I'll see you then, Charles." Tara said as she gently kissed him on the cheek. Turning to leave Gunn called out to her.

"Wait, who are you?"

"My names Tara, but hopefully one day I hope you call me your friend." Tara replied as she walked away.

Gunn just looked at her until she walked out of sight. With a look of confusion he walked back into the warehouse.

"Hey Gunn!" Alonna shouted out to him. "Who was that at the door?"

"Nobody, just.... a friend." he said as he sat down and wrapped an arm around his sister. Looking up at the ceiling he idly wondered if God was really watching over him.

"So did you get to see your friend?" Pike asked as Tara got on the motorcycle.

"Yeah we had an interesting chat." Tara replied.

"Okay next stop Sunnydale." Pike replied.

-

The two drove in silence until they reached a restaurant. Getting a quick bite to eat that got back on the road and continued driving until they got to the apartment , Tara told Pike about.

"Thanks for the ride." Tara said as she got off of Pikes bike.

"Hey it was the least I could do for you saving my life."

"Alright you know where I live, so if you want to stay in touch...." she trailed off at that.

"Yeah definately." Pike replied. "Goodbye Tara."

"Bye Pike." Tara said with a wave as he took off into the night. Steeling herself, she hefted her clothes bag on her shoulder and knocked on the door in front of her.

After a few minutes a middle aged man with glasses opened the door.

"Y...yes may I help you?" he asked in a thick british accent.

"I'm Tara Maclay, I...I was looking for a Mr. Rupert Giles."

"Ahhhh Tara." he said comprehension dawning. "I'm Rupert Giles please...." he said as he stepped aside to let her in. Tara noted that he really didn't invite her in and she became instantly suspicious of the man. That was until Angel whispered some information into Tara's mind, telling her a little about Giles.

"I'm terribly sorry about your Aunt, Tara." Giles said sincerely as the two sat on his couch.

"Thanks." Tara replied glumly.

"Oh... ahhh...um..." Giles started off feeling a little uncomfortable. Why Megan wanted Tara to stay with him was beyond him. An older man and a young girl living together was just unseemly.

"I was ahhh busy cleaning up a room for you. If you're tired...."

"I am a little tired." Tara interrupted.

"Come this way then." Giles said as he grabbed her bag and the two walked upstairs. As he opened the door Tara peered inside and saw that the room was kind of dusty, but other then that it looked rather homely.

"I'm sorry for the mess." Giles replied as he sat her bag on the floor. "As I said earlier I was in the middle of ....."

"I love it." Tara said tiredly. And she did, love the room. It was better then her hole in the wall of a room with her father.

"Ah, splendid." Giles said as he turned around to leave the room. "If you need any....."

"You play the guitar?" Tara asked cutting him off. She eyed a guitar leaning up against the wall. Giles looked at her sheepishly. He had been using this room for storage and he forgot to put his old guitar away.

"Oh, ah yes, when I was younger." he said as he took off his glasses to polish them. Relieving his old days in his mind.

Until he started to hear Tara pluck a few chords.

"Tara that's quiet good. Who taught you how to play?" Giles asked, enjoying her music.

"My father did." she replied glumly as she stopped playing. The one good thing her father did do for her. Tara thought to herself.

Giles saw her reaction towards the mention of her father. Just what did that ponce do to this girl? Giles silently wandered.

"Well I'll let you settle in then." Giles said as he moved towards the door. "Goodnight Tara."

"Goodnight Mr. Giles." Tara said as she layed down the guitar.

"Please just call me Giles. Everyone does."

"Alright Mr.....Giles." Tara said with a smile. Giles put on a smile himself and then left the room. After a few minutes Tara layed back on the soft bed and feel asleep. Her dreams were the same as always. The monsters of the night tried to get her, but her Angel was there to save her everytime.

TBC......

To anybody that was wondering, yes Pike is the guy from the Buffy the vampire slayer movie.


	11. Chapter 10 When She Was Bad

A/N sorry for taking so long in updating this story. I've been kind of busy with other stories and since people hardly read this one, I put it on the back burner. Anyway tell me what you think of this chapter.

also to new readers to see when this story is updated, just go to the Tara Maclay section of this site and check it out.

Chapter 10

When she was bad

Sunnydale High: The next day

Tara and Giles pulled into the sunnydale parking lot, in Giles beat up old car. Tara wasn't a vain person, but she silently wished that she had her own car. As Giles parked the car he looked up and saw Principal Snyder making a bee-line towards him. Letting out an inward groan he turned to Tara.

"Tara do you mind waiting for me in the library? Just go up those steps, go straight down the main corridor, and take a left."

"Okay." Tara said as she stepped out of the car.

"I'll be in there to join you shortly. I have to talk to Principal Snyder and get your class schedules." With that said Tara walked up the steps and into the building.

In actuality Tara knew exactly where the library was via Angel. As she walked down the hallway going towards the library, she bumped into somebody. Looking up she see's a tall guy with a goofy grin on his face.

"I'm sorry." he automatically blurted out.

"It's okay. Really it was my fault." Tara said with an easy smile.

"Are you new here?" the boy asked.

"Yeah, my names Tara." Tara replied as she held out her hand.

"My names Xander." he said with a little bow, as he shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Hey I see some friends of mine." Xander said looking over her shoulder. "Maybe, I'll see you around." he said as he walked off from her.

As Tara started to walk by the library she heard a voice. Looking up she see's Cordelia with a group of girls talking about something.

It was odd seeing her so young again, was Angel's thought as he looked at Cordelia from Tara's eye's. As Tara made to go towards the library again, she finally saw what or rather whom the girls and Cordy were talking about.

It was a short guy with dark hair and he looked kind of pasty. Using her vampiric hearing, Tara listened in on what the girls were saying to him, and quickly scowled. All her life she was bullied and just to look at the guy she knew he didn't deserve it. Ignoring what Angel was telling her that, Cordy would grow to be a better person one day, Tara walked up to them.

* * *

Jonathon Levinson was again caught in the middle of one of Cordelia's tirades. Just once he would like for a beautiful girl to pay attention to him. His prayers were answered however as a cute blonde with pouty lips draped an arm around his shoulder.

"Hey Cutie." the girl purred.

"Me cute?" Johnathon asked.

"Him cute?" the other girls echoed. Ignoring the other girls, the blonde continued.

"My names Tara and I'm new here. I was wondering if you could show me where the library is?" Tara asked.

"umm...ummm sure." Johnathon managed to get out. "Just come this way." he said as they walked off, leaving a pissed off Cordelia.

* * *

As Giles entered the library, he was surprised to see Tara talking antimately with another student. Making his presense known, he walked up to the pair and put on his most charming smile.

"I see you've made a new friend." Giles says as he stands next to him.

"Oh this is Johnathon. I got kind of lost and he helped me find my way." Tara said with an easy smile.

"Hi Mr. Giles." Johnathon replied. Before Giles could say anything the library doors swung open. Turning he saw Xander, Willow, and Buffy walk in.

"Hey G-man, what's the what?" Xander asked.

"Don't ever call me that." Giles immediately said. With a quick clean of his glasses he put them back on and smiled at Tara.

"This is Tara, she'll be living with me for a while." Giles said as he immediately shot a glare in Xander's direction, before he made an inappropriate comment. Seeing the look on Giles face Xander immediately closed his mouth.

"Tara this is Buffy,Willow, and Xander." Giles said pointing to them as he called their names.

"Actually were old friends." Xander announced as he sat beside Tara and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Really?" Willow asked, obviously jealous as she sat down across from him.

"Yeah we met like ten minutes ago." Xander deadpanned.

"Yes, well ahhh Tara here is your class schedule." Giles said as he handed her a folder.

"Thanks, Johnathon do you mind showing me around?" Tara asked.

"Ahhh...yeah sure." Johnathon said as they both stood up.

"It was nice meeting you all." Tara said as she walked close to the door. "Giles I'll see you after school."

"Now that they're gone we can talk business." Buffy said with must of annoyance in her voice.

* * *

Johnathon gave Tara a quick tour of the school. Stopping at her first class he starts to fidget and run his hands nervously through his hair.

"Tara I was wondering if ....if you would like to go to the bronze with me?"

"Sure." Tara replied with a smile.

"I understand." Johnathon said sadly. "Maybe I'll see you... wait what did you say?"

"I said sure." Tara replied with a smile. "But maybe tomorrow okay. I have to get settled in, in my new place."

"Okay." Johnathon said excitedly as he walked away.

* * *

The day quickly passed for Tara as she now sat in her room working on a set of wrist stake launchers. (Her box of clothes with the weapons underneath showed up that day. Angel was teaching her how to make some earlier in the summer, but they never got a chance to finish)

'I'm telling you Tara, Buffy's really not a bitch.' Angel said with a bit of amusement in his voice. Tara overheard Buffy and Willow talking about her in school, and she heard Buffy say that Tara looked kind of fat.

"You're just saying that because you still love her." Tara scowled. Before Angel could say anything otherwise there was a knock on the door. As Tara cleared the weapons off of her bed, she answered the door. It was Giles.

"Ummm sorry to disturb you, but dinner is ready. Also I have to get to my night job." Giles said.

"Okay, I'll be down in a minute to eat." Tara said with a smile. Night job my ass.

"Very good." Giles said and left. Tara closed the door and walked back over to her bed. Loading the launcher with , she begin to talk to herself.

"You're not the only one going to work tonight Giles." The Master's bones are history, she said to herself as the stake clicked into place.

An old brick warehouse

The same time

"We have been put down, kinsmen." Absalom a former priest, now vampire says to a group of other vamps. "We have lost our way. We have lost the night. But despair is for the living. Where they are weak, we will be strong. Where they weep, we rejoice. Where they bleed, (laughs) we drink! Within three days a New Hope will arise. We will put our faith in him. (looks over at Collin) He will show us the way."

"Wait, there's something wrong." Collin says, holding his head as if he's having a vision.

"What is it?" Absalom asked coming down to where Collin is sitting.

"We must dig up the Master's bones tonight." Collin says with a grimace on his face.

"But the ceremony doesn't start until....."

"I SAID NOW!" Collin yells cutting off Absalom. "Now go. Gather every vampire you can find, we start the ceremony tonight."

* * *

As soon as Giles left, Tara put on her leather clothes and gathered some weapons. With a grin on her face she walked to the cemetery, thinking how easy it would to be to take out all of her enemies, since she knew who all the big bads were for the next six years.

That was until she gets to the Master's grave and finds it dug open and his bones exhumed.

'Damnit' Angel yells in Tara's mind, making her wince from the sound. 'Sorry' he apologizes.

'Maybe we have the wrong date.' Tara suggest's.

'No.' Angel thinks back to her. 'This definately was supposed to happen tomorrow.'

' They have the bones, so what else do they need?' Tara asked. Then they came to the realization at the same time.

'Oh my God, Giles!'

* * *

The Scooby Gang sat around in the library reading old dusty tomes. That was until Cordelia showed up and started complaining about Buffy's attitude. As all of them sat around arguing, none of them noticed the demons and vampires coming up out of the stacks.

After sensing something demonic, Buffy attempts to turn around until she feels a sharp pain in her chest. Looking down at her chest she see's a dart sticking out of it. As she falls to the ground, the noise of her friends screams feel her ears and then nothing as she falls into darkness.

* * *

Before Tara ran to the library, Angel warned her that there would probably be alot of vampires protecting the Master. So changing her direction she decided to get some reinforcements.

* * *

Angel was busy reading poetry in his apartment when he heard a knock on his door. With a sigh he marked his place in the book and opened the door. When he did he saw a cute honey blonde with a pensive look on her face.

"Yes miss, can I help you?" he asked. Tara was star struck for a moment. Angel was even more handsome in person. Clearing her mind of such thoughts, she went to the business at hand.

"Angel you need to come with me right now." Tara ordered as she walked uninvited into his apartment.

"Who....what are you?" Angel asked as he sensed something off about her.

"I don't have time for twenty questions Angel!" Tara snapped. "Buffy and the others are in danger. Some vampires are trying to resurrect the Master."

Without another word Angel grabbed some stakes and an axe, then both of them were out the door.

As the pair got to the library, Tara's suspicions were confirmed. Books were scattered on the floor and tables were over turned. The place looked like a warzone. As they turned to leave they heard a groan.

As they walked by the weapons cage they saw Buffy sprawled on the floor.

"Buffy!" Angel yelled running to her side. "Are you okay?" he asked, as he helped her to her feet.

"Just peachy." Buffy replied rubbing at her temple, then she looked over at Tara. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We don't have time for this. Giles and the others are in trouble!" Tara yelled as she walked out of the room. Angel and Buffy just looked at each other and shrugged. After gathering a sword and a couple of stakes, the two quickly followed after Tara.

Inside of a warehouse

Collin carries a black case past the Master's skeleton, which has been laid out on a table. Absalom takes it from him.

"Begin." Absalom said to one of the minions.

The vampire he was talking to starts pulling on a chain, and Willow, Giles, Cordelia and Jenny are moved along an overhead conveyor to hang upside down and unconscious above the Master's bones. Xander lay unconcious on the ground chained to the floor. (They had him there so once the Master was reborn, they could nourish him.)

"Behold, these four mortals." Abasalom says starting the ceremony.

At that moment Buffy comes into the warehouse through a side door. Angel and Tara follow her in.

"Okay this is what we need to do." Tara says as she unsheathes her sword.

"Hey I'm the Slayer!" Buffy stage whispered in outrage. "I call the shots."

"Why don't you pull your head out of your ass for a second and listen to somebody else's opinion." Tara half yelled, half whispered back. "Whether you like it or not those people down there love you. Their like your family and they try to help you and treat them like shit. Now you're going to listen to me and what I have to say, do you understand?"

Buffy just looked at her as if she were about to knock her head off.

"Alright." Buffy said, hands and body trembling from anger. "I'll listen to your plan, but after this is over were going to have a long talk." Tara just nods as she tells them her plan.

* * *

"Witnesses to our Master's wretched demise. They will breathe their last this night. The blood that pours from their throats will bring NEW LIFE to the old one. We gather for his resurrection. For the dawn of this new hell." Absalom finishes as his eyes go wide. Suddenly he crumbles to dust and it's revealed that Buffy's behind him, stake in hand.

"Hi." she says to Collin. "It's been awhile."

"Slayer." Collin practically hisses. "I've been expecting you." he says as some vampires come out of the darkness. As they try to advance on Buffy the skylight suddenly shatters. Glass and wood shower down on the people below as Tara drops through the newly made hole.

Seeing two vamps charging her from opposite sides, she triggers the wrist stake launchers under her sleeves and stakes both at the same time. They dust screaming As another vamp runs up to her she spin kicks it knocking him to the ground.

Angel was busy however releasing Giles and the others.

After Buffy dusts two more vampires Collin raises a sledgehammer and charges at Buffy he yells as he begins his attack. The other vampire rushes at her from the other side. Buffy calmly looks at the tall wooden torch post in front of her, breaks it off and turns it a few times in her hands.

The vampire impales himself on the broken end and crumbles into ash. Collin runs into the burning end and is set ablaze. He backs up and screams as the flames spread over him. He makes a last desperate attempt to get Buffy and raises the sledgehammer over his head, but is too late as the flames engulf him and instantly burn him up. The sledgehammer falls to the floor with a loud clang. Buffy drops the post and looks over at the Master's skeleton.

Finally the battle is over. As Tara leans in the darkness watching Buffy smash the Master's bones into a million pieces, a portal opens up behind her. Before she has time to move a hand snakes it's way out of the portal and pulls her in.

The lower parts of Hell

Two demons have either arm of a small body and they are dragging it along a path. As they see their Master's throne, they throw the body at the foot of it and walk off into the darkness.

Sitting on the throne all that can be seen is a silhouette of a large demon. Reaching down, he grabs the hair of the body and lifts the head up to see who it is. It's Collin.

"You disappoint me boy." Satan says with a dark gravely voice. "For that you will be banished into the hell fire." he says as he picks up Collin and tosses him into the lake of fire.

Leaning back into the darkness, he looks up to the heavens and regards God.

"So father, you've finally released a Seraphim on earth." he says with a smile. "Then I'll see what I can do about that."

TBC......

Yes the devil will have a part to play in season two. Also I'll explain where Tara is in the next chapter. Also Just like I promised, Tara and Buffy are going to have a little talk in the next chapter. There's also going to be a bunch of all new episodes, I wasn't really satisfied at the way season two played out.


	12. Chapter 11 Ghosts pt 1

A/N sorry for taking so long in updating this story. I've been kind of busy with other stories and since people hardly read this one, I put it on the back burner. Anyway tell me what you think of this chapter.

also to new readers to see when this story is updated, just go to the Tara Maclay section of this site and check it out.

Also thanks to the new reviewer irismoon and to BAKAMAN I uploaded two chapters at once so tell me what you think.

Chapter 11

Ghosts part.1

Head pounding, Tara quickly opens her eyes. The first thing she notices is that she's in an all white room. As she tries to get up off the floor, she feels that she's lying on top of somebody. Looking over her shoulder, she see's that it's Angel.

"Angel get up." Tara said as she sits up and slaps him on the arm.

"Wha... I'm up, I'm up." Angel says groggily as he opens his eyes and see's Tara.

"What the hell is going on here" Angel asks as he stands to his feet.

"It's funny you should mention hell." a voice replies from behind them. Turning they see that it's Cordelia.

"Cordy I don't understand." Angel said as he walks up to her. "Why are we here and why are me and Tara seperated"

"Well you're seperated because, it's easier to talk to you that way. As for why are you here, it's because we made a slight boo boo."

"What kind of a boo... mistake" Angel asked as he crossed his arms. Cordy looked real glum about what she was about to say.

"Well do you remember when I told you that after you died someone powerful raised the old one's " Cordy asked. Angel only nodded.

"Well he knows of Tara's existence now. Even though he doesn't know everything about her, he's still aware of her."

"Damnit" Angel explodes.

"Who is he " Tara asked, ignoring Angel's outburst. Cordy let out a sigh.

"It's the Devil." she says simply. Tara's eyes widen at that.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me" Angel yells again. Before he can continue with his tirade of curse words, a voice interrupts him.

"Hey dog what's up with all the shouting " a male voice asks. With wide eyes at recognizing the voice, Angel turns and see's Gunn, Wesley, and Spike walking up to him.

"Well if it isn't the galloping poofster." Spike says with a grin. "Oh don't start boo hooing, mate." he adds as he see's the look in his grandsire's eyes.

"But how " Angel asks as he walks up to them and shakes their hands, but only gives Spike an icy glare.

"We're at the meeting place." Cordy explains.

"All the people who die, they come here to meet with the living." Wesley adds.

"Listen, I'm sorry that..."

"Hey man you better not be apologizing for us dying." Gunn starts. "We knew the risks and we took them."

"Yeah but Fred..."

"What about me " Fred asked as she joined the group. Giving a quick kiss to Wesley, she looked back at Angel. Breaking his tradition of not hugging, he embraced Fred with the biggest one he could muster.

"How " he whispered into her hair, still hugging her. As they broke their hug, he looked down at her expecting answers.

"The only being that can truly destroy a soul is God." Tara says. Then all eyes fall on her. "Hey, I read the bible, before." she adds with a shrug.

"Oh, I'm sorry guys, this is Tara." Angel says as he stands behind her.

"We know who she is Captain Forehead." Spike says with a shake of his head.

"We're in heaven and we can see what you do." he explained.

"Heaven " Angel snorted. "Why the hell did they let you up there " Angel asked.

"Oi" Spike yelled in outrage. "I helped save the world..."

"Ignore them." Gunn says as the two keep bickering. "I'm Charles Gunn at your service." he says as he kisses Tara's hand. Tara blushes and hides her face behind her hair.

"Also I saw what you did for me. The alive me... anyway that was real decent of you. I remember that we starved for another day, before we could get enough food for everybody."

With a smile she starts to talk to the rest of the Angel Investigations team. They even tell her that she saved another life. It seemed that Pike was supposed to die that day when that demon attacked him from behind. As she's busy talking to them Angel pulls Cordy to the side and asks her a few questions.

"Cordy I have to ask you something." Angel whispers to her. At her nod he continues. "When me and Tara are combined together, why does her attitude change so much ? I know that she's a good girl, but sometimes I can sense so much anger in her. Is it because of me "

"Kinda..." Cordy starts. "Really it's not your fault, it's really Angelus'." she explains.

"What does my alter ego have to do with..." then he realizes what he's saying. "Oh."

"Yeah every since you two combined, she gets everything. Your powers all the way down to the Angelus persona."

"I don't want her to go through that." Angel explains. "She's a good kid and I don't want Angelus bringing her down."

"Then be there for her." Cordy tells him. "You really love her don't you " she asks.

"Yeah." Angel admits as he runs his hand through his hair. "She reminds me so much of..."

"You're little sister, Kathy." Cordy finishes for him. Angel only smiles.

"Oh it's time for you guys to go back to earth." Cordy says loud enough for Tara to hear as well. Tara looks dissappointed that she has to leave so soon. Saying her goodbyes to Gunn and the rest she joins Angel's side.

"Wait before we go, what are these things " Tara asks as the guanlets appear on her wrists. Cordy just smiles.

"I think I'll let her tell you." Cordelia says as she looks over Tara's shoulder. Following her line of vision Tara see's a woman with short brown hair, wearing an all white dress much like Cordelia's.

"Mom" Tara yells as she finally recognizes her. All the years of abuse and sickness took away her mom's beauty. Now she looked younger and beautiful.

"Tara." her mom says with a smile and her arms opened wide. As the two hugged and embraced, they began to talk about what was happening and what was going on in Tara's life. After that Elizabeth started to tell her about the bracelets.

"I'm really glad Master Tao decided to give you those." she started. "They are called Dragon Guanlets. They give the user extra strength and speed for awhile and they also give you the power of the fire element." she explains.

"I'm sorry you two, It's time for Tara to leave." Cordy announces.

"But...but..." Tara stammers.

"Don't worry Tara, we'll meet again one day." her mom assures as she caresses her daughters cheek. "And thank you Angel, for keeping my daughter safe." she says with a smile. Angel smiles back.

As Tara closes her eyes, she opens them again and see's that she is back in the warehouse. As she scans the room she see's Giles running towards her, with a worried expression on his face.

"Tara are you alright." he asks worry evident in his voice. "You dissappeared for a second and then you reappeared." he explains.

"I'm just fine." she says a little woozily. "I just need a little rest." she says ignoring his last statement.

"You need to explain yourself first." Angel stated as he stood beside Giles. "How did you know about me and what exactly are you " he asks.

"Angel why are you attacking my charge " Giles demanded as he glared at Angel. Tara just watched this exchange.Maybe Giles didn't like Angel from the beginning, Tara thought to herself. And here I thought that it was just because of Miss Calendar's death.

"Listen, I'll explain everything." Tara said before the two could start arguing. "Let's just go to Giles house. I'll tell you everything there." she says as she walks off. Angel and Giles glare at each other and then they follow her.

* * *

"So you're a witch " Giles asked as he, the scooby gang, Angel and Jenny sat in his living room. Cordelia decided to go home, to be honest she just hated Tara. Tara decided not to tell them the full truth. How could you tell someone you were possessed by a spirit and was sent to take out the major players of evil.

"Yes sir." she replies after a second.

"But the moves you did earlier... I've never seen a witch do stuff like that." Angel comments.

"Well I learned some karate from Master Tao and everything else I learned from... my brother." Tara replies. Angel smiled inwardly at this, because she was talking about him.

"But... " Angel tries to start again only for Buffy to cut him off.

"Let it go Angel." she says softly. "Listen Tara, I wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I treated you earlier. I was acting like a total bitch." Buffy wanted her to know.

"It's alright." Tara said with a smile returning to her face.

"Friends ?" Buffy said as she extended her hand.

"Friends." Tara said as they shook hands.

"I think somebody should be an official scooby." Xander comments, as everyone starts to smile.

"Maybe tomorrow." Tara says with a yawn. "I'm kind of tired." she comments.

"I hear ya." Buffy says as she and the others stand. "I'll see you guys later. Willow do you want me to walk you home "

"Yeah sure." Willow replies as she walks to the door. "Hey Tara, I was wondering if ummm... maybe you could teach me some magick " Willow asked nervously. She was really hoping Giles wouldn't say anything about it, because he didn't want her getting involved in the magicks.

"Sure anytime." Tara replied. Then Angel whispered something into her mind. "But know that magick isn't a game it's something serious and it should be regarded as such." Tara cautioned.

"Okay." Willow replied. And with that Willow, Buffy, Angel, And Xander left.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, Rupert." Jenny said with a smile as she kissed Giles on the cheek. Before he could respond she walked out of the door. With a frustrated sigh he turned to Tara.

"I'm extraordinarily proud of you Tara. On the way over Buffy told me how you took charge and saved all of our lives. If there's anything I can ever do for you then just name it."

Tara sat there and thought about it for a moment. "Well I have some friends that live in LA that I have to visit. Is it okay if I go to meet them this weekend " she asks.

"Only if I go with you." he says after a moment of consideration.

"Deal." she replies. "Wait I think Angel should come too."

"Why " Giles asked confused.

"Just trust me." she replied with a smile.

TBC...


	13. Chapter 12 Ghosts pt 2

A/N This is a slight spoiler for the episode Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, for the second season of Angel, for those who haven't seen it. If you want to know who judy is watch that episode to find out. I'm just to lazy to summarize who her character is.

Also this takes place before the episode School Hard.

Chapter 12

Ghosts part. 2

The rest of the week quickly past as Tara loaded some more stuff into Giles trunk. Tara was truthful with Giles and told him of Gunn's predicament. To her surprise he told the Council and they gave him enough money to buy supplies for Gunn's cause.

But her surprises didn't stop there. On the date she had with Johnathon, after the Master incident, he saw her stake a vamp, behind the club. Not being able to put it off any longer she told him about vampires. All he had to say of the matter was "cool". So she introduced him to the scoobies where he joined the group.

The hardest part of the week however was convincing Angel to come with them. After a little argument she tells him about what she plans for Gunn and he quickly agreed to come.

As everyone got in the car ready to leave a slightly winded Johnathon stopped them. Rolling down the window Tara asked.

"Johnathon what are you doing here " he just looked at her with his best puppy dog eyes.

"Can I come " he asked in an almost baby voice. Tara looked at Giles who just shrugged.

"Hop in." she replied.

* * *

Giles was mildly surprised, much like Pike was, when Tara directed him to drive to the warehouse district. Watching her knock on the door, he got out of the car and with the help of the others he started to unload some stuff out of the car. 

As the door swung open, the same boy who greeted Tara before was standing there. With a wide look on his face he looked over his shoulder and yelled.

"Hey Gunn, that Angel chick is here again" After a second Gunn appears at the door, with Alonna behind him.

"Hey Tara." he say as he gave her a hug. Much out of character for him, Angel told her. Gunn was mostly suspsicious of people. He must have a little crush on Tara. He noted.

"Thanks for the money you gave me."

"Money " Giles asked when he came up behind Tara with a box in hand. Gunn just glared at him.

"Who the hell are you " he asked.

"Gunn it's cool he's with me." Tara informed him. "Giles this is Gunn, Gunn- Mr. Giles." Tara formally introduced them.

"Sorry for my brother being rude." Alonna says as she glares at Gunn. "Why don't you guys come in."

Then Gunn notices Angel and hefts his axe over his shoulder.

"I should have known better then to trust you." he says to Tara. "I can't believe you brought a vampire here."

"Gunn I swear to you that Angel's a good guy." Tara said holding him back. "I'm not trying to trick you here, Gunn. Why would I give you money only to try to hurt you later " she asks. Gunn seems to think about this for a moment and then lowers his axe.

"Alright, y'all can come in. But if mister fangy over here so much as twitches, I'm dusting him." Gunn says never taking his eyes off of Angel as he dissappeared into the building.

"That went well." Giles comments as he and the others go into the warehouse.

As soon as Angel walked into the room, a few of the kids got alarmed and reached for some weapons. Gunn quickly dismissed them and told them what was going on.

"Hey what's in the box " Alonna asked Johnathon as he came into the room. Johnathon looked at the girl like a deer caught in headlights. She was just so cute.

"Hey can you hear me in there ?' she asked as she waved her hand in front of his face. Johnathon blinked then blushed.

"Oh ummm... sorry it's full of you're cute... I mean food." his face reddened even more. Even Alonna blushed at his comment. Tara just looked at the two and smiled. They just looked so adorable together. She was snapped out of her reverie as Gunn tugged her on the arm.

"Can we talk for a minute " he asked.

"Sure." she replied as she saw Giles come in the door with the last box.

"Hey Giles" she shouted out. Handing over the last box of clothes to one of the teenagers he walks over to them.

"I wanted to apologize for being rude earlier, but I have to ask why are you doing this for us "

"I accept your apology but I wasn't the one who set this up, Tara was. I also believe she has another surprise for you as well." Giles informed him.

"Listen, I appreciate all of what y'all are doing but we ain't no charity case."

"Gunn just stop being so stubborn for once." Tara says as she strokes his chin with her hand. "Just listen to my plan. If you don't like it I'll leave you alone." she says. With a sigh Gunn listens to what she has to say.

* * *

" You can't be serious" Gunn explodes. 

"Think about the others." Angel intervenes.

"Stay out of this dead boy." Gunn counters.

"Charles she's giving us a chance to survive better." Alonna says holding hands with Johnathon.

"She's right man." Another member of his crew says. "She's given us money, clothes, and food. I say we trust her on this." he says as the other members nod thier heads in agreement. Gunn just lowers his head and thinks.

"So what do you say " Tara asks as she lifts his head up with a finger.

"I'll get my crossbow." he says as he looks up.

* * *

As Tara, Johnathon, Angel, Gunn, and Giles got out of the car they stared up at the huge building. 

"This place is really going to belong to me " Gunn asked.

"Not yet." Giles informed him. "For right now it belongs to the Council. At least until you uphold your end of the bargain."

"Alright guys get ready." Tara announced. "Johnno are you sure you want to go through with this " she asked looking over at a now sweating Johnathon.

"I'm sure." he says.

As they walk into the building they start to hear a whispered voice speaking into their minds. Telling them that their worthless and that the others are thinking bad thoughts about them.

"Guys ignore what he's saying and concentrate" Tara yells out. "Giles help me here."

"Demon I command you, show yourself" Giles yells over an over again while Tara says something in latin.

Suddenly the air on the stairs begins to shiver and bulge and the Thesulac demon becomes corporeal. It's an ugly gray faced demon in a long hooded cape with tentacles sticking out form under it like a fringe.

"Watch his tentacles." Angel warns everybody.

"Excuse me" Gunn asks

"Tentacles" Johnathon screams.

"Oh." Gunn simply says as the demon flashes his tentacles around.

"I don't remember ordering take-out, but I like what you brung me." the Thesulac says to Angel.

"Not as delectable as the last one perhaps but full of tasty paranoia just the same." It laughs then indicates Johnathon. "Especially that one"

"What did he mean by that" Johnathon asks as he looks over at Angel and Giles.

"You had your last meal here a long time ago." Angel starts ignoring Johnathon's question. "You should have gotten out when you had the chance."

Thesulac drifts closer to Angel "Got out? Now, why would I wanna do that? When the room service in this hotel is still excellent. Has been for 50 years. Paranoia here - is like fine wine."

"It gets better with age." Angel says quietlythen he realized what or who the demon was talking about. "You're still feeding. Gunn!" he shouts.

Gunn aims his crossbow and pins one of Thesulac's tentacles to the banister of the stairs. The Thesulac wraps one of his other tentacles around Gunn's hand holding the crossbow and tosses him against the wall. Gunn drops to the floor and looks back up at the demon.

Tara throws a dagger that pins another one of the demons tentacles to the wall. Not moving fast enough she gets hit by a tentacle and is sent sprawling to the floor.

Giles and Johnathon run in different directions and while the demon is distracted Angel jumps into a forward roll, grabbing a hold of one of the demon's other tentacles.  
Angel as he rolls back to his feet with it in his grip"The kitchen is closed."

He shoves the end of the tentacle against the exposed wires in the fuse box. There is an explosion of sparks and blue electricity runs up the tentacle and wraps around the demon.

All five of them stand and stare as the Thesulac hangs in the air, screaming after a while there is an explosion of white light and the Thesulac is gone.

"What did he mean, especially that one" Johnathon asks. Ignoring him Angel heads up the stairs as the others watch from below. He enters Judy's old room and finds her, now an old woman, sitting in a chair.

"Judy." Angel says as he enters the room.

"I don't hear them anymore. - Are they gone" she asks

"Yeah." Angel replies as he comes to stand in front of her.He gets down on one knee in front of her and slowly reaches for her hand.

"It's you." Judy says smiling up at him.

"Yeah, Judy. It's me." Angel says smiling back at her ever so slightly

"You look the same." she states as she touches his face.

"I'm not." Angel replied.

"They killed you - because of me." Angel shakes his head at her. "I killed you."

"No. No. No." Angel says still shaking his head.

"He kept them from the door. He told me I'd be safe. - Am I safe" Judy asks.

"You're safe." Angel assures her.

"Can I go out now" she asks sleepily.

"Yeah. You can go out." Judy gives him a big smile and starts to get up from her chair. Angel helps her up.

"Let me help you."

"I just - I need to take a little rest first. Just a little rest." Judy informs him as Angel helps her over to her bed.

"Easy." He says as he lowers her onto the bed.

"I'm so sorry I killed you. Can you forgive me" she asked holding his hands.

"Of course." Angel says looking down at her.

"I'm just going to rest. Just for a minute - and then - I'm going to go out." Judy says as she closes her eyes and dies. With a sad look on his face Angel heads downstairs.

"Angel you don't think I'm paranoid do you" Johnathon asks.

"Not especially." he says.

"Oh thank God. I was worried."

"So are we done here " Giles asks.

"We're done." Angel tells him. "Thank you, for inviting me Tara, I needed to close that chapter in my life." Angel says to her as they share a look, that seems to say that "we need to talk soon".

* * *

As Tara and the others got ready to leave to go back to Sunnydale, Giles shook hands with Gunn. 

"Just remember if you need help with anything you have my number."

"I got you, dog." Gunn says earning a smile from Giles. "Now remember you can only get ownership of the Hyperion if..."

"I know, I know..." Gunn cuts him off. "I have to get everybody to enroll back in school and try to find real homes for some of the younger kids."

"Very good." Giles said with a grin. "Take care of yourself and the other's Mr. Gunn." Giles says as he walks off.

"I'll see you later." Tara says as she gives Gunn a hug. "Sooner I hope." Gunn whisper's into her hair.

* * *

"Maybe I can call you sometime." Alonna says still holding Johnathon's hand. 

"Yeah, I'd like that." he replies as he gives her his number.

"See you later Johnno." she says as she kisses him on the cheek.

"Hey dog, get away from my sister" Gunn yells.

"Bye." Johnathon cries as he runs away from an advancing Gunn.

* * *

"Were almost home." Giles announces. 

"Home sweet, Sunnydale." Johnathon says happily.

"I see you made a new friend." Tara teases, earning a blush from Johnathon.

"Yeah." he replies with a smile. Suddenly a black desoto zooms by them, nearly knocking them off the road.

"Bloody hell." Giles exclaims as he get's control back over the car. "They really shouldn't issue some people licences."

TBC...


	14. Chapter 13 The Seraphim vs Spike

A/N Since not alot of people are reading this fanfic I've decided to just skip around to only the important episodes of the seasons. So this is a big time jump from the last chapter. It takes place during the episode Who's Line is it Anyway. Only it's before Spike calls in the order of Taraka. Also it's before Tara figures out she's gay.

Summary of events that led up to this chapter. Tara is teaching Willow Magic like she promised. Only for the most part she's only teaching her healing spells and levitation. Tara goes out on patrol by herself, because she doesn't want to explain herself to much to the others. Especially Angel, even though the two have become very close.

She even told him about the real meaning of his curse. He was saddened by the news, but still dated Buffy. She told him that it was okay, just as long as they didn't go to far. Everything else pretty much went like the season was supposed to go, except during Halloween. Since Tara changed things and introduced Johnathon into the group, he became the soldier and Xander became Batman because that was the only other costume that he liked in the shop.

Tara decided to let Halloween go as planned because, Johnathon's skills would be needed so they could take out the Mayor later on. She also saved Spike when Xander almost staked him. Tara and Angel also destroyed the Du Lac cross, before Spike found out about it so he could cure Dru. They melted it down and sold the gold so they could get money for the Scoobies.

She uses her share of the money to get into contact with a weapon maker in LA. (the same one Wesley had during season 4 of Angel) And she gets him to make some gadgets for her.

Also Amy joins the group after Tara finds out that she's a witch. Also Tara keeps having cryptic dreams about Angel and she can't figure out what they mean.

Chapter 13

A Los Angeles beach.

A wave crashes on the sand. In the far distance a pier stretches out into the water. Tara steps onto the beach, walking barefoot across the sand, wearing a pink dress. She stops and looks out over the ocean. She closes her eyes and raises her head to just feel the sun on her face and listen to the waves come in. A pair of hands reach around her and clasp in front of her waist, and she covers them with hers. She looks back and see's Angel leaning his head over her shoulder. She reaches up with her hand and brushes it against his cheek.

"How did you find me here?" Tara asked.

"If I was blind, I would see you." Angel said looking out into the ocean.

She lowers her hand to take his again at her waist and closes her eyes. She embraces his arms tightly to her.

"Stay with me." Tara said leaning into his embrace.

"Forever. That's the whole point. I'll never leave you." Angel said as his smile faded. "Not even if you kill me." he said whispering into her ear.

Tara's expression turns from contented to dismayed.

Suddenly Tara's eyes snap open and she finds herself in her room. Breathing heavily and sweating perfusely, she gets out of bed and walks over to the window, peering out into the night.

(Tara are you okay?) Angel asks in her mind.

(I'm fine.) Tara replied breathlessly back to him. (It was just another nightmare.)

(Is it the same one you've been having all week?)

(Yeah.) was her only reply.

(Do you want to talk about it?) Angel asked.

(No!) Tara almost shouted. Angel was taken aback by her anger. (I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell. I just need time to think about what my dream meant, that's all.)

(Okay.) Angel said a little worrily. He was still surprised that he couldn't read Tara's thoughts with ease like he used to. The girl was growing on him and he didn't want to see her in pain.

(Listen, we have to talk about Spike.) Angel explained.

(Yeah, what about him?) Tara asked as she went to her closet and started to take out some clothes for her nightly patrol.

(It's about how you saved him a few weeks ago.) Angel said as he remembered what happened. It was wierd that Xander of all people almost staked Spike and Tara pushed Spike out of the way. Every since that Halloween spell when Xander turned into the Dark Knight he was acting strangely. He didn't even hang around the Scoobies as much.

(Why do you sound so worried, he's going to turn into a good guy right?)

(Not yet.) Angel said with a sigh. (The way I heard it, it'll take him another three years before he turns into a good guy.)

(What made him change?)

(Buffy) was all Angel would say.

(Obviously we can't let things play out like they did before.) she said as she layed out some black jeans and a black t-shirt. (He's going to kill too many people from now to then.)

(That's why I think you might have to kill him. Especially before he sends for the order of Taraka.) They didn't have to worry about him trying to restore Dru to her full strength because they had already destroyed the Du Lac Cross. Since it was made out of pure gold, she got the alive version of Angel to get in touch with some of his contacts, so they could get some money from it.

(I thought you said, he was important for an upcoming battle?) Tara asked.

(He is but like you said, we can't allow him to kill innocent people.)

(What if I can talk to him. You know get him to come over to our side?) Tara asked. Angel scoffed.

(Tara that's crazy. Spike is an evil, soulless thing. He can't be trusted!)

(But...)

(No but's Tara.) Angel replied calming down a bit. (When the time comes you have to kill Spike. If it's truly meant for him to save the world, maybe he'll come back from hell. I did.)

"Alright." Tara said outloud as she puts one of her new gadgets on her arm. "I'll just check out Willy's first and then I'll look for Spike."

In an abandoned warehouse

"Spike." Drusilla drawls his name out weakly as she dances around. "You'll neva' guess who's 'ere in Sunnydale."

"Who my sweet?" Spike asks as he emerges out of the shadows. "And I thought I told you to stay in bed, you're still weak." he says as he pushes her gently back down in bed and tucks her in.

"My aunt is 'ere." Dru says as she caresses his cheek.

"Is that so, luv?" Spike asked humouring her. "And 'ere I thought Angelus had killed them all." he said thinking of days past.

"She's my new aunt silly." Dru said with a dreamy look. "The one that daddy made."

Spike thinks about this, then quickly dismisses it. 'She's gettin' nuttier by the day.' he thought to himself. 'Right now I have to think about the Slayer and getting her better.' Trying to get the Du Lac cross was a bust. When Spike tried to get to the tomb to get it, he found that it wasn't there at all.

"I'm going to go out for a bit, luv." Spike said as he stood to his feet. "I have to get somethin' to drink."

* * *

Spike was halfway through his virgin's blood and Vodka when he heard an odd muttering behind him. He turned around on his stool, leaning back against the bar as a crowd of demons and vamps made way for someone he couldn't see.

He reached out, grabbing a demon by the neck and pulling him back against the bar. "Hey mate, whats goin on?"

"I think it's one of them." the demon said as he began to shiver.

"Them?" Spike asked with a raised eyebrow. "What them?"

The demon swallowed, and pointed straight up. "THEM."

Spike's eyes widened, "Bloody hell. You've got to be kidding me?"

The demon shivered, "No... The demon community has been going nuts for weeks... New Mexico, L.A... now here. A Serephim is walking the Earth again."

"That's not bloody well possible." Spike hissed. "What proof do you have?"

"I ran into a vampire a few months ago. He was acting like he was crazy or something. He told me a Seraphim took apart his whole crew. Besides..." the demon said as he looked up at Tara.

"can't you feel that?"

Spike looked up at the blonde coming towards the bar. She was a cute little bird, but something about her just seemed so pure. It made even William the bloody shiver a little.

"Is that from her?" Spike asked.

The demon nodded. "Damn."

* * *

Tara walked up to the bar, glancing at the others standing around. Most of them were quite a distance away from her, all but one who was sitting with his back slightly turned. All Tara could see was the long black duster and a hint of blonde hair.

Willy came out from a back room, glancing awkwardly around the room before he slipped into the large island bar. Even though he wasn't a demon he could still see that the other demon's were afraid of the new comer in his bar. "Can... can I help you?"

" I'm looking for William the Bloody." Tara said pausing for effect. Knowing that Spike was beside her. "Any idea where he is?"

Willy shook his head fervently. "No... Sorry! I'm sorry!"

Tara just looked at him with a small grin, "Relax. He's just an old... friend of mine." Tara told him. "What's wrong with you anyway?"

"N... nothing... Can I go now?" Tara nodded and watched as Willy scrambled off. "Very amusing."

"Cor luv," A voice came from beside him, "What do you expect? Not every day an Angel comes in 'ere and asks questions."

Tara turned her head at the familiar voice. "The Slayer of Slayers?"

"You know me, luv?" Tara snorted as Angel whispered the information to her.

"William the Bloody. One part of the infamous group of vampires led by Angelus, the Scourge of Europe himself."

Spike rolled his eyes, "Right. Like that bloomin poofter was ever the leader. Wait don't I know you?" Spike asked taking a better look at her. 'She looks just like the girl who pushed me out of the way when that whelp tried to stake me.' Spike thought to himself.

"Aren't you one of the soddin' Slayer's friends?" he asked.

"You could say that." Tara replied as she put her hand on his shoulder. "Now come with me, we have some things to talk about."

(Tara what the hell are you doing?) Angel asked in her mind.

(Just trust me.) she said back to him.

"Not Bloody likely." Spike said as he shrugged her hand off. Instantly making her upset. Before she could respond though, she felt somebody standing up behind her.

"Sit down!" She immediately shouted as she turned around. It was a tall and very large vampire. He was scared out of his wits that an Angel was in the bar so he tried to flee.

"Are you going to let a woman talk to you like that, mate?" Spike asked.

"Hell no." the vamp growled as he shifted into his game face. Jumping over the table he ran towards Tara.

"Why are the big one's always so stupid?" Tara asks herself as she lifts up her arm. Before the vamp could get even ten feet towards her a stake pops out from under her sleeve and shoots out into the vamps chest.

The vamps eyes pop open wide as he looks down and see's the stake. Without a word he explodes into ashes.

"Now are you going to come with me or do you want to join your friend?" Tara asks as she whirls on Spike and points her arm out as another stake peeks it's way out.

"You know ducks." Spike said as he put down his drink. "You've persuaded me to go with you."

Thirty Minutes Later

In an abandoned theater

As Spike opens the door to the old theater, Tara comes up behind him with a stake at his back.

"So what do you want with me?" Spike asks as he turns around and looks at her. Then he gives her a suggestive wink.

"Not on your best day Willy." Tara tells him with a slight grin. Spike just looks at her for a second. Something about the way she said his name just seemed so familiar. The only person to ever call him Willy was Angelus.

"So what then?" Spike asks again.

"I want you to join me. I want you to be one of the good guys." After she said this Spike did something she knew he would do all along. He laughed.

"You can't be serious." he said through the laughter. Then he saw her face and knew she wasn't playing. "You are serious."

"Yeah I am Spike." Tara said as she walked up closer to him. Making him step back a little.

"And I can prove that you can be one." As she said this Spike looked down and saw that he had stepped into what looked like a sacred circle. As he looked up Tara put her hands on either side of his temples.

Before he could move or either say a word, energy flowed out of Tara and into him. As Spike started to scream he started to see flashes of himself during heroic things. (Basically whatever he did on season five of Angel,) He even started to see himself fight along side Peaches in a dark alley as a demon horde is about to attack.

(So this is what you've been planning behind my back?) Angel asks. For a week at a time he felt disconnected to Tara. Almost as if she was pushing him away. (How long have you been planning this?)

(For about a week.) Tara replied back to him with a grunt. (Now be quiet for a second, It's taking a lot out of me to astro- project these memories from your mind and from your future.) she tells him.

Suddenly she feels an increase in power and her Dragon Guanlets appear. Before she can think about what's going on, Spike starts to scream even louder. Someone is feeding him memories of the future he would have with Buffy, through Tara. He starts to see all of the good and bad things he does with her and he see's his heroic's on the hellmouth. (Even protecting and watching over Tara when Glory took her mind)

Just as quickly as the power was there it was gone. As the power dissapates Spike and Tara slump to the floor. Both of them are exhausted.

"What the bloody 'ell did you do to me?" Spike asked in outrage.

"Making you a hero." Tara replied as she stood to her feet.

"Yeah I can feel it." Spike says as he stands to his feet and looks at his hands.

"What do we do now?" Tara asks. She was really talking to Angel but Spike thought she was talking to him.

Spike sighs then punches Tara in the face. "What do ya think?" he asks as he snickers. Spike paces back and forth while Tara gets back to her feet.

"Come on!" Spike yells out. "What did ya think? Some little spell was gonna change the big bad?"

"Spike, we don't have time for this." Tara said as she wiped at her bloody lip. "There's a lot of big problems to deal with."

"Keep your knickers dry, Sally." Spike says with a chuckle. "You're not gonna last that long."

(I told you Tara) Angel whispers in her mind. (Spike is never going to change.)

"Fine." Tara says with a sigh, as she stands to her feet. "We'll do it your way."

Tara and Spike start fist-fighting. They trade punches, then Spike grabs Tara and throws her up in the air, where she lands on a balcony behind him. Tara then lands on a cross. With a growl she kicks the cross down to the stage below..while spike jumps up to the balcony in one smooth motion, landing in front of her.

Doing a fancy spinning move Tara gets to her feet and pushes Spike back a little. Spike taunts her and picks up the cross. It burns him but he doesn't seem to care. He tosses it at her but she dodges it.

Spike uses his toe to lift a metal rod of rebar into his hands. He swings it at Tara, but she does a somersault off of the balcony, landing on the stage near a bag of weapons, she brought there a few days ago. As she walks toward the bag, Spike looks up and throws the rebar at her like a spear, narrowly missing her. Tara turns to look at Spike, who jumps from the balcony wielding another rod of rebar.

"Yaaaagh!" Spike yells as he lifts the rebar high over his head. Tara grabs the first piece of rebar that Spike threw at her and uses it to deflect his weapon.

They continue to fight, and Tara pushes Spike further and further back. She finally swings the rebar rod like a baseball bat, knocking Spike up into the balcony. She follows him, ready to swing at Spike again, but Spike stands and blocks the swing.

"You're not gonna win seraphim."

Spike punches Tara, knocking her off of the balcony. She lands on the stage below, coughing and bleeding up blood through her mouth.

"I've killed two Slayers in my day." Spike says as he jumps down to the stage. "Now I'll be known all over the world as the bloke who killed an Angel."

Tara grabs Spike's wrists and pulls them apart as he tries to choke her. She punches Spike, then throws him across the room, causing some of the wood props to shatter. They fist fight some more and then they punch each other in the face at the same time, making each other stumble back.

"I'm sorry it has to be like this Spike." Tara says as she puts her arm down to her side. An extender sword then telescopes down into her hand. Seeing it as a challenge Spike changes into his vampire face. They then charge each other.

As Tara swings at him with her sword, Spike ducks down, comes up behind her and punches her in the back.

"Come on Angel. I know you can do better then that." With that said Tara's eyes suddenly change to an eerie blue. Before she can take another swing at Spike, a stake suddenly embeds itself in his left shoulder, right above his heart.

As they both look up they see a beautiful black girl, with her arm outstrecthed. As Tara figures out who it is, Spike runs past her and crashes out of the huge theater window, sending glass and wood everywhere.

Taking the stake out of his back, Spike runs off into the night.

TBC...

Please review...

Also BAKAMAN I sent you an email explaining about this fanfic. I hope you got it. Also I wanted to apologize to the few reviewers who are reading my story. I hope you don't think it sucks now because I'm skipping through the season.


	15. Chapter 14 Nobody's Hero

A/N Thanks for reviewing Home and Charmed, Moon java, Dark light and kinetic-kid. I didn't think anyone was even reading my stories anymore. For that I'm going to upload two chapters at once.

But before that I'm going to answer some questions. To Darklight, I haven't thought of all I want to do to Spike, but he still might become a good guy. If he does become good though I'll make it believible, just trust me. As for Faith, just wait until you see what happens when I do the summers interlude.

Chapter 14

Nobody's Hero

"Kendra do you know what you've done?" Tara asks as she retracts her sword and walks up to the girl.

"I saved your life girl." Kendra replied as she walked up to her. "And how did you know me name?"

Tara let out a sigh and shook her head. 'Damn me and my big mouth.' she thinks to herself.

"Listen I know that you're a Slayer and..."

"How do you know of de Slayer?" Kendra cuts her off. "Identify yourself."

"My name's Tara. And I know about Slayer's because I fight beside the other one."

"Dat's impossible." Kendra said with a raised eyebrow. "I'm de only Slayer."

"I'm sorry to burst your bubble hun." Tara said as she picked up her bag. "But the Slayer line isn't that unique anymore. Now come with me." she said as she walked up to the door.

"I'm going to take you to meet Buffy's Watcher. He'll explain everything to you."

Kendra looked at her skeptically for a moment and then followed her out of the door.

Spikes Warehouse

"I can't believe that bloody bitch did this to me." Spike said as he paced about the room. Images of things that he had never done still assualted his mind. Everytime he would think about the Seraphim, he would see an image of a girl half insane, with him clutching onto her protectively.

"Spike..." Dru calls for him from the other room. As Spike enters he see's her lying in bed, crying out blood tears.

"What is it pet?" Spike asks as he takes her hands in his.

"Spike, I can see the light in you. My Aunt has changed you."

"Luv what are you talking about?" Spike asks as he gives her a soft kiss. "I don't have a soul." he assures her.

"No not your soul." she says as she sits up. "She gave you your memories." Dru says in a disembodied voice, that's deep and resonant.

"Who the 'ell are you?" Spike asks as he stands to his feet.

"Spike my boy." Dru said as she stood to her feet. "I'm someone that the heavens themselves tremble before. Now sit down, we have much to discuss."

Giles Apartment

"Good Lord!" Giles bellowed at the end of Tara and Kendra's story. He had never figured that another Slayer would have been called. Besides, Buffy only died a little bit.

"So Kendra, where is your Watcher?" Giles asked.

"He is still in Jamaica, sir." Kendra told him. "We thought dat, de other Slayer had died, so we were makin' preparations to come to Sunnydale. Den I could take over as Slayer."

"That's quite perculiar." Giles said as he rubbed at his glasses. "The Council knows that Buffy is alive. Why on earth would they keep the existance of another Slayer, a secret?"

"I don't know, sir." Kendra answered him.

"Please Kendra, just call me Giles." he told her with a warm smile. "Everybody does."

"Okay. But Mister... Giles, when do I get to meet de other Slayer."

"In the morning." Giles said as he looked at his watch. "It's getting rather late. I'm sure that Buffy will be very excited to meet you Kendra. I also hope that you don't mind sharing a room with, Tara?" he asked. Kendra looked over at Tara, who was looking back at her with a warm smile.

"Dat's going to be just fine." Kendra replied.

"You can have the bed." Tara says as they walk into her room.

"No I want deprive you of your bed." Kendra told her as she put some blankets and a sheet on the floor. "Dis is your room."

"I know it's my room, and you're my guest." Tara explains as she shrugs out of her clothes and puts on her night things. "That's why I want you to have the bed. Trust me I've slept on far worse." she said indicating the floor.

"Here you can wear some of my night clothes too." Tara said as she handed her some.

"Tank you." Kendra said as she began to take her clothes off. "For de clothes and de bed."

Tara didn't hear much of what the Slayer had said, because she was staring at Kendra's perfect body. Snapping out of her daydream, she made a pallet on the floor and layed down.

"So how were you able to fight like dat?" Kendra asked as she got comfortable on Tara's bed. At Tara's raised eyebrow she explained herself.

"I felt power comin' from dat old theater, so I went to it. When I looked inside, I saw you and dat vampire fighting."

"Ohhh... I just had a very good karate teacher." Tara explained.

"You must have studied for many years." Kendra said with a yawn. "Your fighting technique was very impressive."

"Thanks but I only trained for like three month's." Tara told her.

"Dat's impossible." Kendra said as she sat up in bed. "I spent me whole life, training to reach dat level of skill."

"Hey what can I say." Tara said with a grin. "I'm just a fast learner."

With that said, the two began to chat a little. Tara told Kendra a little about herself and about the other Scoobies. In turn Kendra told Tara about her life and how she felt to be a Slayer.

(So Angel what happens to Kendra?) Tara asked in her mind.

(In a few months time, she's going to get killed by Drusilla.) he told her sadly. Tara looked up at her new friend lightly snoring on her bed.

(That's not going to happen.) Tara vowed. (Not this time)

Sunnydale High

The next day

Tara had just introduced Kendra to the Scoobies. As expected Xander and Johnathon, practically drooled all over her. Tara often wondered what it was about their group, that attracted hot chicks into it.

"So you fought Spike last night?" Xander asked as he stopped eye molesting Kendra. At Tara's nod, he continued. "I'm surprised. I would've thought that you would try to save him again."

"Xander." Willow admonished as she slapped him on the arm.

"You tried to save William de Bloody?" Kendra asked. "What were you tinkin'? Don't you know dat he's one of de most dangerous vampires in de world?"

"I had a feeling that he was going to play a big role in saving the world." Tara said looking at them all in turn. "But after last night, I see that he can't be saved."

At Kendra's confused look, Giles hurried to explain about Tara.

"Um...Kendra...Tara is somewhat of a Soothsayer, as it were. She has informed us that she can see certain flashes of the future. Why she was having them about Spike I have no idea."

"He could have been a good man, Giles." Tara said. 'If I hadn't of screwed it up.' she thought to herself. Then she looked over at Miss Calendar. 'Maybe not.'

After the group finished their meeting, Tara cornered Miss Calendar in a corner. Alone.

"Ms. Calendar, can I talk with you a second?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, what's up?" she asked.

"I need you to do a spell for me. It's kind of powerful."

"What is it?" she asked curiously. "Maybe I could get Rupert to..."

"No." Tara said quickly. "You're the only one who can do this spell."

"You still haven't told me what it is." Ms. Calendar stated.

"It's a soul restoration spell." Once she said this Ms. Calendar immediately went pale.

"Wh...why do you think, I can do that?" Miss Calendar asked.

"Because, Janna of the Kalderash people, your ancestors made the spell."

"How did you..." Jenny said shaking her head. "Even if I could pull it off, that spell is lost to my people."

"Trust me Miss Calendar..." Tara said as she put a hand on her shoulder. "I have faith in you."

As the two started talking, more about the spell, neither of them noticed Angel listening to them behind the stacks.

Three weeks later

Sunnydale High Library

8:00 PM

No one had heard hide nor hair from Spike. But seeing as though Angel knew him better than anybody, he knew that Spike wouldn't give up so easily. Another problem was that Miss Calendar said that it would take a little more time for her to decipher some scrolls, that were the key to the soul spell. On the bright side Kendra's Watcher told her that there was a dark power rising in Sunnydale, so she got to stay.

The other creatures of the night must have also followed Spike's example, because all was quiet in Sunnydale. Except for the occasional vampire attack, there weren't any big bads around. Making life kinda boring.

As the group sat in the library discussing Tara's big surprise for the night. Someone threw a rock through the library window. Shaking off the glass from the rock, Buffy picked it up and read the note aloud.

"Meet me at the docks. It's time for round two Seraphim. Spike." Buffy said finishing the note. "Who or what the hell is a Seraphim?" Buffy asked looking expectantly at Giles.

"Well um... according to some beliefs a Seraphim is the highestorder of an Angel."

"So why would Spike write to us about an Angel?" Amy asked. No one saw Tara as she started to pale.

"I have no idea." Giles answered.

"Let's just forget about all that, guys." Buffy said getting everyone's attention. "We know where Spike is now, so let's just go and take care of him."

"Alright." Giles started as he walked up to the weapons cage. "Xander, Tara, Kendra where ever on the docks, Spike's base is on, I want you to engage him first. Just in case of it being a trap, Angel, Johnathon, Buffy, Willow, Amy, and myself will act as your back up."

As Giles said this they gather weapons and head out of the door. Before he leaves the building Giles walks towards Jenny's computer class to check up on her.

She's at her desk working on the translation program. She takes a sip of coffee from her mug and sets it back down. She types a few keystrokes, then stares at the screen. Behind her Giles appears and stands in the doorway.

"Hello." Giles calls out.

She's startled by his voice and looks at him. Quickly she types a few keystrokes, and the screen changes. She turns back to him.

"Oh! Hi." she said worriedly. She didn't want him to figure out what she was up to.

"You're working late." he said as he steps into the room.

"Special project." she says as she looks at him. "Rupert... Okay, I don't wanna say anything if I'm wrong, but I may have some news. Now, I need to finish up here. Could I see you later?"

"Y-yes, yes. You could stop by my house."

"Okay." Jenny said with a seductive smile. "Oh and tell Tara, I'll be by the bronze to check out her performance."

"Good." Giles says as he turns to leave the room. Jenny turns her attention back to her computer.

* * *

As the group makes it to the docks, Tara sniffs around and locates where Spike is hiding. As they open the door to the very unstable looking warehouse, they look into the empty and pitch black room.

"Tara are you sure we're at de right place?" Kendra asked. Before she could answer the lights in the warehouse suddenly turned on. Half of the warehouse was illuminated in light, but they saw movement in the darkness.

As they stepped into the warehouse, Spike and Drusilla along with twenty vampires stepped out the shadows.

" 'ello luv." he said as he beamed at Tara. "I've been expectin' ya."

TBC...

Please review...


	16. Chapter 15 Watch the Sunrise

A/N I don't own the song that Tara and Giles sing in this fanfic. It's called Secrets by Maroon 5. I thought it was appropriate for this fanfic and I hope you guys like this chapter, I put alot of work in it. I had to take down the song lyrics to avoid account closure.

So please review. That way I'll know if the chapters are good and I can update sooner. At least give me five reviews.

Chapter 15

Watch the Sunrise

"Spike I'm glad you're still here." Tara said as she walked into the warehouse. She was flanked by Kendra and Xander.

"Is that so, luv?" Spike asked with a toothy grin. "And why is that?"

"Because hopefully in a little while, I'll have a present for you." she admitted. "Let's just say that I'll finally be able to get you to see the light."

"Bad Aunt... shoo, shoo, you shouldn't be here yet." Dru whined as she began to sway. "You'll try to make me burn, what will daddy think?"

"What the hell is she talking about Tara?" Xander asked as he looked over at her.

"I don't tink dat we should converse with dem." Kendra said getting their attention. Xander just gave, Tara a "We will talk about this soon" look.

"So you're the other, Slayer?" Spike asked giving her an appraising glance.

"I am she." Kendra stated proudly and yet confused. "But how did you know..."

"How did I know who you are?" Spike finished for her. "Let's just say a little birdy told me."

"Now boys..." he said looking over at the vampires behind him. "Leave the Jamaican Queen and the Angel to me and Dru. Do whatever you want to the whelp and the other's outside." With that said more then fifteen vampires surged in force outside, while the rest of them ran towards Xander.

"Well it seems like round two, don't it Tara?" Spike asked as he walked up to her.

"How do you know my name?" Tara asked. Spike just smiled at her.

"Like I said before, luv." Spike said as he slipped into his vampiric visage. "I have friends in rather low places." he said as he tapped his foot on the floor. With a chuckle at her confused look, he charges her.

Meanwhile outside

The groups eyes widen as they see, almost twenty vampires surge towards them.

"Johnathon, Giles...get everybody back, let me and Angel handle this!" Buffy yelled out as she snap kicks the nearest vampire.

The vampire gets up from the pavement, and Buffy punches him, knocking him back down again. She backs up toward a truck to get around him, but a two more vampires standing in the bed grab her by the jacket and lifts her up. One of them gets her in a full Nelson hold. She pushes him back into a large box. He is stunned and lets go of his hold as he see's that a piece of wood is sticking through his chest. He then crumbles into dust. She snaps her head back and headbutts the other one hard. Then another vampire climbs onto the truck bed also and comes at her.

She punches him, turns and punches the one behind her, turns and punches the other one again, then kicks him in the chest, making him fall and roll over a crate. She blocks a swing from the one behind her, grabs his arm and shoves his head into the crate.

Buffy punches one of the wooden bed retainers and breaks off a piece. She jams it into one of the vampires' chests, and he bursts into ashes. The other grabs her from behind, lifts her up and carries her onto the loading dock. He throws her at a door. She hits it and rolls away, bumping into Angel, who was fighting off two vampires of his own.

Two vampires suddenly jump at them from some cargo netting. One pulls Buffy off of Angel and throws her back. The other begins to fight with Angel. Buffy rolls to her feet. The vampire swings at her, but misses. She grabs him and starts pummeling his gut. Angel flips the other one over onto his back. He gets up, and Angel swings at him three times, but he blocks all of them.

Angel's next punch lands on the vampire's face. Buffy ducks a swing, lifts herself up on the dock railing and kicks her assailant in the chest with both feet, sending him staggering back into the gangplank. She gives chase and grabs him by the back of the shirt and hair. He growls.

Angel ducks a roundhouse kick, grabs the vampire's arm and flips him over onto his back. He runs after another and tackles him to the deck. Taking out a stake, he quickly dust's him. Buffy's attacker shakes free of her and shoves her into a stack of crates. He follows up with a roundhouse kick, but she ducks it and he just hits the crates.

She makes a grab for him, but he punches her in the face. Angel gets ready to punch another vampire but gets distracted when the vampire he was fighting before grabs a stake and tries to run up behind him. Punching the one he was holding in the face, he snaps out his leg and kicks the one behind him. The force of the blow sent him to the ground where he impaled himself, on his own stake.

Buffy's opponent grabs her by the jacket and roars as he swings her around, over the railing and into the water. Angel sees her go flying.

Meanwhile back in the warehouse

Xander ducks under a rainbow kick and follows up with a kick of his own, to the vampires gut. The force of the blow sent the vampire flying back. Seeing two vampires charge him from opposite directions he triggers the wrist stake launchers under his duster sleeves and stakes both at the same time. They dust.

"Man I love these things." he said as he looked at them with a smile. Then he saw two more vampires charging at him. "Damn no rest for the wicked." he muttered to himself as he blocked a punch.

"You're getting better at this, luv." Spike told Tara as he smoothly slid under a high kick from her. "I'm really enjoyin' our little dance."

"Is that what you think this is, Spike?" Tara asked as she blocked his punches. "That we're dancing."

"Well yeah." Spike said with a shrug. "At least you dance better then your friend." he said looking over her shoulder. Following his line of vision she saw Kendra swaying along with Drusilla. She looked as if she were in a trance.

"Damnit!" Tara yelled under her breath. With a kick to Spike in his chest, the force of which sent him sprawling to the floor, Tara took out a small circular disk looking object out of her duster and threw it at Dru.

As Drusilla reached her hand up, ready to slice Kendra's neck, the disk suddenly popped razor sharp spikes out of it's side. As Dru swiped her hand up, the disk hit her arm, effectively cutting it off. Dru's screams filled the warehouse as her arm fell to the floor and dusted.

"Dru!" Spike yelled as he got to his feet, punched Tara in the face, and ran over to her.

"William." she said pitifully as she leaned into his embraced and held her bloody stump. Before he could pick her up, so they could flee, the floor gave out under them. With a scream both of them plunged into the darkness of the murky water.

"No!" Tara yelled as she ran to the hole and looked down. Her plan of giving Spike his soul back was ruined if he turned into dust. Before she could properly look down the hole, the warehouse roof started to cave in.

"Tara come on!" Xander yelled from beside her, with Kendra in his arms. She was still in a daze.

"But..."

"No but's Tara." Xander said as wood and debris started to fall around them. "We're done here so let's go." he said as he ran off. Tara took one more look at the hole and then made a mad dash for the door.

* * *

"So you think Spike and Drusilla are dead then?" Giles asked as they got on the outside of the warehouse.

"Yeah... thanks to Tara." Xander replied with a glance towards her. She just had her head down and almost looked as if she were about to cry.

"Tara." Giles said as he walked up to her. "This is a moment of celebration, you have nothing to be sad about. You saved Kendra's life and you got rid of two of the most dangerous vampires in the world."

"But I didn't see them dust." Tara said as she looked up at him.

"Nevertheless, nothing..." he glanced at the now crumbled building. "could have survived that."

(He's right Tara.) Angel whispered in her mind. (You did the right thing and you saved Kendra)

"I guess." Tara replied.

"Good. Now let's go to the Bronze. I believe that we have a performance to do."

"You're going to help me?" Tara asked beaming at him.

"Yes of course." he said with a smile of his own. "As I said before, now is the time for celebration."

"Hey where's Deadboy and Buffy?" Xander asked.

"Buffy was tossed into the water and Angel went to retrieve her. They both were soaked to the bone, so they went to his home to change. He said that he would meet us at the bronze though." Giles explained. "And Xander do put Kendra down, she's been awake for five minutes."

"Oh sorry." Xander said as he put her down.

"It's okay." she said as she smiled back up at him.

"Come on guy's or I'm going to be late." Tara said as she ran for the car.

Angel's apartment

Angel opens the door, and he and Buffy walk in. He turns on the light. Buffy closes the door behind them. He takes off his heavy coat and lays it aside. Buffy is soaked through to her skin without a coat or jacket.

"You're shaking like a leaf." Angel said as he walks up to her.

"Cold." Buffy replied as she started to shiver.

"Let me get you something." He gets some things from his armoire and hands them to her.

"Put these on. Get under the covers, just to warm up." Buffy walks over to his bed and sits down. She looks up at him. He faces away to give her privacy.

"Sorry." Angel said a little embarrassed. Buffy takes off her top shirt and winces and inhales in pain.

"What?" Angel asks as he hears her grimace.

"Oh, um... It's okay. I just have a cut or something."

"Can I... Lemme see." Buffy clutches her shirt to her chest.

"Okay." Buffy says in a whisper. Angel turns around and sits down on the bed behind her. He gently touches her back and looks at the cut.

"It's already closed." Angel says still touching her. "You're fine." Buffy leans back into him and cuddles her face to his. He puts his arms around her.

"Buffy I..." he starts to say but he thinks better of it. She turns around to look at him.

"You what?" Buffy asks.

"I love you." he confesses. "I try not to, but I can't stop."

"Me, me, too." she admits "I can't either." They start to kiss. After a moment Angel breaks off.

"Buffy, maybe we shouldn't, Tara said..."

"Forget about Tara." Buffy said as she caressed his cheek. "Just kiss me."

The Bronze

8:45

"Attention everyone, can I have your attention, please." the manager of the Bronze said to the crowd. "We have some first timer's coming up to the stage. So please give it up for Tara Maclay and her guardian Mister Giles." he said as he stepped away from the micro-phone.

Tara and Giles came out of the backroom, just as the audience, broke into applause.

"I wonder if Tara can sing?" Willow said to Amy.

"Not just Tara, but Mister Giles." Amy said with a horrified look.

"Dey both can sing." Kendra informed them both. "I heard dem practicing and dey are both fairly good."

"Shhhh... guys, I want to hear this." Johnathon said as Tara walked up to the microphone.

"Thanks for the applause everyone. I wrote this song a couple of month's ago. It's called Watch the Sunrise and I wrote it for a friend of mine. He's actually more like a brother to me. He's not here tonight." she said peering out into the crowd. "But believe me he's here in spirit."

(I don't even remember you writing this song.) Angel says to her.

(That's because it was another surprise. I really hope you like this song, because I wrote it for you.)

Tara then nods to Giles who starts to play his guitar. Glancing to her side she nods to Oz and his band Dingoes ate my Baby. As they find their tune, Tara leans into the microphone and starts to sing.

As she finishes the song, everyone in the Bronze, whoops, hollers and claps for them. Then someone in the crowd says that they want to hear another song, so Tara and the band, rack their brains and play another song.

Angel's apartment

A little later

Outside lightning strikes, and Angel wakes with a start and gasps for air as he sits up.

"Ahh!" He then gets up from the bed and hurries off. After getting dressed, he crashes through the door into the rain. He stumbles over some trashcans in an alley and falls to the pavement. He cries out in pain and fear.

"Buffy!" he yells out. Buffy stirs slightly but keeps sleeping in his apartment.

"Buffyyyyy!"

The rain has let up. Angel falls to the pavement and props himself up on his hands.

"Buffy..." he says weaker. He can't hold himself up and collapses to the ground. "Oh, no" he said fearing for what's happenong to him. A hooker standing in a doorway sees him and slowly walks over to him.

"Hey. You okay?" she asks as she bends down to look at him. "You want me to call 911?"

"No." Angel said as he stands to his feet. "The pain is gone."

"You sure?" she asks.

"Yeah." He spins around, game face on, grabs her and violently bites her on the neck to feed. He drops her dead body, tilts his head up and blows out the smoke he's just inhaled through her neck from her lungs.

"I feel just fine." Angelus says with a creul smile. Then he thinks about something.

"Now I just have to see an old friend." with that he runs off into the night.

TBC...

Please review...

A/N Tara vs. Angelus is next so review and stay tuned. Also remember I said that Xander was possessed by Batman on halloween so that explains his fighting skills and why he made the wrist stake launchers. Also Johnathon and Giles finish off the rest of the vampires on the dock after Angel and Buffy take a dive. I just didn't want the fight scene to be too long.

TBC...

Please review...


	17. Chapter 16 Say your Goodbyes

A/N I really thought that more people would have reviewed the last chapter. I guess it wasn't as good as I thought. Anyway I hope that you enjoy this chapter, it is Angelus vs. Tara.

Also to Home and Charmed, yes Spike is still alive and no he doesn't have his soul. As for Angel and Buffy I think that their relationship might be over.

Chapter 16

Say your goodbyes

Tara's Bedroom

10:00

(If you're worried about them, then go check up on them) Angel was saying to Tara. She was worried about Angel and Miss Calendar, because neither of them showed up for her performance. She even called them and no one answered their phones.

(Yeah maybe you're right.) she said back to him as she put on her shoes.

(Good. Now travel light, you've been running yourself ragged lately)

(Whatever you say, big brother) she joked with him as she reached under her bed to get some weapons.

"Are you goin' somewhere?" Kendra asked as she woke up.

"Yeah, just a quick patrol."

"Mr. Giles said it would be quiet tonight."

"Yeah I know. I...I just gotta clear my head."

"Do you want some company?" Kendra asked eagerly.

"Naw, I'll be fine." with that said Tara got out a very small stake and a taser and took off into the night.

* * *

"Something just doesn't feel right." Tara said after a few minutes of walking.

(I know what you mean) Angel answered her.

"You don't think that Angel missed my performance because he and Buffy..."

(Of course not) Angel told her quickly. (You told him about his curse.)

"Yeah but sometimes the heart overrides what the mind wants." then she thinks of something. "I think I need to go check on Miss Calendar."

Tara then walks through a dark alley, for a short cut towards the school. Suddenly a vampire steps out in front of her and another one appears behind her. Tara slows, then stops and turns to face them. More vampires appear, surrounding her. They then form a loose circle around her. There are almost ten of them in total.

"Walk away." Tara tells them. Not taking her advice one of them walks toward her. "I'm serious. Don't do this. Not now."

"So you're the elusive Seraphim?" the vampire in front of her sneers. "You don't look so tough."

He then lunges at her and she shoves him. He flies backward into some large tubes. The other vamps attack.

Tara backhands a vamp, kicks another one in the face, spins around to punch another one. Then the leader attacks her with a long staff. She punches him in the face, takes the staff and uses it to stake a vamp behind her. She hits the leader in the face with the staff, dusts a vamp to the left of her, punches another one, and quickly dusts three more vamps with three quick jabs of the staff.

She pauses and faces down the one that spoke to her earlier. He runs at her, and as he flies over her head she stakes him. She turns and puts the staff to the throat of the last vamp, a woman, who stands still looking scared.

Tara slowly lowers the staff. The vampire looks surprised, then turns and begins to run away down the alley. Tara stands there looking thoughtful. After a moment she lifts the staff and throws it like a javelin. It flies down the alley and dusts the female vamp as she's running.

"Damn,..." Tara said panting from her slight exercise. "Why want people listen when you tell them you're busy." she comments as she runs in the direction of the school.

Jenny's classroom.

10:20

Jenny's still working at her computer. She taps a few keys, then looks up at the screen. A percent complete window appears over the Romanian text, and the bar zips across it.

"Come on, come on..." she says excitedly.

The bar disappears, and a translation scrolls up next to the original text.

"That's it!" she said releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding. "It's gonna work!" she says as she smiles and save the result. "This... will work." She pops out an unlabeled yellow floppy disk and sets it aside by some books near the edge of her desk. In the mean time a hardcopy has started to print out.

She wheels her chair over to the printer and looks it over. She looks up and sees Angelus sitting in a desk at the back of the class. She gasps and jumps out of her seat.

"Oh Angel it's just you." she breathes a sigh of relief. "When did you get here?"

"Oh only a few minutes ago." he said standing up.

"Angel, I've got good news."

"I heard." he said with a small smile. "You went shopping at the local boogedy-boogedy store and you're trying to give my grand-childe his soul back."

"Y...yeah." she said nervously. "Did Tara tell you?"

Angelus sees the Orb on her desk and picks it up. " The Orb of Thesulah. If memory serves, this is supposed to summon a person's soul... from the ether... store it until it can be transferred."

The Orb begins to glow as he looks into it. He glances up at Jenny for an instant. She edges away from him.

"You know what I hate most about these things, Janna?" Jenny screams as he heaves it into the chalkboard behind her. It shatters into hundreds of pieces and a lot of dust.

"They're so damn fragile." he says as he loses the smile. "Must be that shoddy gypsy craftsmanship, huh?" Jenny has backed into the wall and trembles with fear. She starts to inch her way toward the door.

"Angelus?" she says recognition dawning.

Angelus reaches over to the PC and turns the monitor so he can see it.

"I never cease to be amazed how much the world has changed in just two and a half centuries." Jenny has reached the door and tries to open it. It's locked. He turns the monitor back around.

"It's a miracle to me. You, you put the secrets to restoring a soul in here..." He shoves the computer off of her desk and onto the floor. It breaks, and the monitor shatters and sparks and starts to burn. Angelus tears the printout from the printer.

" and it comes out here." he says as he looks at the paper. 'The Ritual of Restoration.' Wow. This, this brings back memories." He starts to tear the printout in half.

As he does this Jenny finds a way out and flee's. Angelus grins and gives chase. As Jenny makes it to the hallway stairs, she looks back and Angelus isn't there. As she turns around, she see's Angelus standing in front of her.

"Angel..." was all she got to say, as he grabbed her and broke her neck.

"God I love that sound." he says as he caresses her face. "Now I'm just a little hungry." After feeding on her, he drops her dead body and takes off into the night. Just a minute later, Tara runs into the school and finds Miss Calendar on the floor dead. After looking over her body, she found that her neck was broken and that she was drained of blood.

It was obviously a vampire attack. It had to be Angelus. As she starts to cry, she takes out her cellphone and calls Giles.

"Yeah, Giles it's me." she says into the phone. "No I'm not alright...just please call an ambulance and tell them to come to the school." she thens listens to Giles. "It's Miss Calendar... Giles I'm so sorry, but she's dead."

After talking with Giles a little more she hangs up the phone.

"I'm sorry Miss Calendar... I was going to try to save you too." she replied as she closed the older woman's eyes.

(Tara.) Angel whispered into her mind. (He hasn't been gone long, you can probably still catch him.)

(Where is he going?) Tara asked as she stood to her feet.

(To see Buffy.) he replied.

* * *

Angelus was still on a high from the blood he drunk from Jenny Calender. Gypsy blood was just the best. With a grin on his face and blood still on his lips, he ran through an alley, and stopped dead in his tracks. Looking up he see's Tara glaring at him.

"Hey sis." Angelus says innocently. "What are you doing all alone down this alley?"

"Nothing much, Angelus." she says as she see's the blood on his lips. Sensing what she's looking at he wipes it off on his sleeve.

"So you figured out who I am. Damn, I'm really impressed."

Tara's only reply was to reach in her duster pocket and take out a small stake.

"Who do you think you're going to stop with that little thing?" Angelus asks as he laughs and points at her little stake. His laughter dies quickly however after she hits the release on the asp in her hand extending it to a baton.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tara asks as Angelus tries to walk around her.

"Going to see my girlfriend." he replies with a wiry grin.

They are now standing right in front of each other.

"Oh, you really think I'm gonna let that happen?" she asks.

"You think you're gonna stop me, sis?"

"I surely do."

Angelus throws a right cross at Tara's face but she deflects it with her free hand and whips the baton into Angelus' face. Tara quickly spins into a backhand swing and Angelus catches her arm, forcing her down on one knee, and slams a knee into Tara's face. Angelus doesn't let her go and lifts her back to her feet to swing her around and throw her through the air.

Tara flies back into a large heap of trash bags and card board boxes next to the loading dock of a building. She scrambles out of the trash onto the loading dock and picks up her baton where it had landed. Angelus leaps high through the air landing on the dock before she can get to her feet. Tara uses the baton to block Angelus' kick but the weapon is knocked out of her hand and the vampire punches her across the face.

Still on her knees, Tara retaliates with a fist to Angelus' groin. As the vampire bends down in pain, she gets to her feet, picks up an empty liquor bottle and smashes it over his head. She then grabs Angelus by the coat and rams a knee into his back sending him against the building. Angelus swings a backhand but Tara blocks it and slams the same knee into his stomach.

Angelus recovers and grabs Tara by the collar of her leather duster and then slams her back against a heavy door. She hits Angelus in the face with a left cross, but Angelus just slams her against the door again, and gets his hands around her throat. As Tara is forced down, under Angelus' strength, she pulls out a taser from her duster and shoves it into Angelus' chest. The shock flings him back and he falls into the trash heap. Tara gets on her feet and goes after him.

Angelus raises his head and growls at her, in full vamp face. Tara plants a hard kick into his chest and Angelus tumbles out onto the pavement. Standing over him, Tara tries to hit him with the taser once more, but Angelus catches her wrist, forcing her to drop it, and drives a fist into her stomach. He lifts Tara over his head and growls as he runs with her across the alley to send her crashing into a group of storage drums against the side of a warehouse. Tara tumbles to the ground but Angelus picks her up again and sends her flying to the other side of the alley. She lands on a pile of large metal conduit tubes, which break her fall none to gently, and she flops to the pavement.

Angelus hears the loud engine of an approaching vehicle and quickly climbs up the side of the warehouse, disappearing over the top. With a smile on his face he begins to get on his feet, until he looks down and see's some black boots. Looking up he see's Tara looking down at him.

"What took you so long?" she quips as she kicks him in the face. As Angelus falls on his back she gets on top of him and holds the sharpened end of the baton with both hands over his heart. Just as she is about to plunge it into his chest, she hesitates.

(Tara do it!) Angel shouts in her mind.

(But what if he doesn't come back, I...)

(But nothing Tara. Do it!) he yells back.

"What's the matter sis, lose your nerve?" Angelus asks from his position under her. Tara looks down at him with a tear in her eye before she replied.

"I love you." she says as she plunges the stake end of the baton in his unbeating heart. Angelus gives her a questioning look before he crumbles into dust.

As the dust of Angelus began to blow away, Tara started to weep. As if on cue the heavens opened up and it started to rain. Because it knew that, that night an Angel wept.

TBC...

Please review...

The Summer's Interlude is after this chapter. Also this was probably my favorite chapter to write.


	18. Chapter 17 Summer's Interlude

A/N Thanks for the reviews. And to Joan, yeah I thought that chapter 16 was my best chapter as well. To elizabeth thanks for the complements, I hope to hear more from you. I also decided to make Tara a year older then everyone else, so she graduates this year instead of season 3 with everyone else.

Chapter 17

Summer's Interlude

When Tara made it home, she told Giles all of what happened. He called Buffy's and her mother Joyce answered the phone. After doing a quick check, she found out that Buffy had just made it home. After calling the rest of the Scoobies, Giles left for the morgue just as Buffy arrived at his apartment.

"What's going on, Tara?" Buffy asked as she came into Giles place. "I heard that Miss Calendar was murdered."

"Yeah she was." Tara said on the verge of tears. Then there was a knock on the door. With a sigh she answered it and it was the rest of the Scooby gang. After letting them in Tara sat down and started to explain herself.

"I had a bad feeling that something was going on." Tara said as Kendra came out of their room and sat down. "So I went to school to check up on Miss Calendar and I found her dead."

"Did you find out who did it?" Amy asked.

"Yeah." Tara said looking from Amy to Buffy. "It was Angel."

"What!" Buffy yelled in outrage. "Angel has a soul and he would never do that. I thought you two were close, how could you accuse him of something like that?"

"Buffy please. I...I told you about his curse. If he has one moment of true happiness, he looses his soul and he turns back into the monster he was before."

"How do you know that?" Buffy asked.

"Just trust me, I know." she said solemnly. "And when I got to Miss Calendar's body, I felt Angel's presense so I followed it and..."

"What did you do?" Buffy yelled the question out, as she saw Tara's look.

"I...I killed him." she said quietly. Buffy looked at her with hard eyes for a second and then she broke into tears.

"I can't be here right now." Buffy said as she ran for the door. Tara came up behind her and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"I'm sorry I had to do it Buffy...I..."

"Don't touch me!" Buffy yelled as she pushed Tara back. "I can't believe that you did that to him. I loved him so much."

"And you think I don't care?" Tara asked. "Buffy I came from a place where my father abused me and murdered my mother. When I got here, Angel was like a brother to me... he was my family. Don't you know how much it hurt me to do what I had to do."

"Tara I'm..." Buffy stopped herself. "I just have to go." she said as she ran from Giles place.

Tara watched her retreating form and then turned back, to see the Scoobies staring at her.

"Tara we have to talk." Xander said as she walked back into the room. "Now I wasn't a big fan of deadboy, but why would you try to save Spike and not him?"

"Because it's different. In my...visions Spike doesn't even have a soul and he still became a good guy, as far as Angel he could never do that." she explained.

"While we're talking about Spike, why did he keep calling you the Seraphim?" he asked. Tara let out another sigh as she sat down beside him.

"Listen, I can't tell you guys everything only this. I was just a normal kid in New Mexico, then just one day something... something came to me and now I have all of these powers."

"So you don't have those powers because you're a witch?" Willow asked.

"The strength, heightened senses, physical dexterity, and speed are from what happened to me, but everything else is because of witchcraft."

"But you still haven't explained why they call you the Seraphim." Amy told her. Tara let out a sigh as she thought about her life, before Sunnydale. Looking at them all in turn she began her story.

"Before I came here to live with Giles, I lived in New Mexico with my Aunt. I came home from karate practice one day and I found her in the bathroom, dead. When I was about to call the police, some demons attacked me and I killed them. Later that night I went on my first patrol. When I walked down this alley, to save two girls, the vamps looked at me like they were going to piss their pants. Seeing that they sensed something powerful about me, I told them that I was a Seraphim. I let one of them go and he spread the word that their was an Angel walking the earth."

"So you're not an Angel then?" Johnathon asked.

"I am." Tara told him. "More or less."

"So what about de visions?" Kendra asked joining the conversation. "Are dey because of what happened to you?"

"That's enough questions." Xander said as he stood to his feet. "I think Tara had a reason for being secretive all of this time. Tara I'm sorry I had to ask you those questions in the first place. But I had to make sure that you didn't have your own agenda and do something to hurt my friends." he said as he looked about the room at the people that he considered family

Tara just looked up at him and nodded her head. Ever since Halloween, Xander acted like a different person. He was improving in school, made some of his own weapons, and his fighting techniques vastly improved. It was as if he were becoming the dark knight himself. Shaking that thought out of her head, she listened as her friends started to talk about Miss Calendar.

After all of them agreed to hold a special memorial for her, Johnathon stood to his feet.

"Guy's I'm bushed." he said as he walked to the door. "I'm real sorry about Miss Calendar, Willow." he said with a sad expression on his face. He knew how close they were. "I'll see you guys later." he said as he walked out of the house, followed by the rest of them as they said their goodbyes to Kendra and Tara.

Seeing how late it was, Kendra and Tara decided to get some sleep. Since Kendra was still staying at Giles' place, they got her a cot to go in their room. As Tara layed down, after only a few minutes she started to have a wierd dream.

* * *

Angel tackles a beautiful girl with raven hair and they both burst through the window of an apartment, falling two stories to land on a trash-container lid. They roll off of it and the girl again throws Angel around.

"You're gonna die!" she yells to him, as she starts to attack. The girl keeps hitting and kicking Angel. Halfway through this it starts to first rain then pour.

"You hear me? - You don't know what evil is! - I'm bad! - Fight back!"

The girl keeps whaling on Angel, sometimes he ducks, sometimes the hits connect.

"Nice try, Faith." Angel says as he grabs a hold of her. He then tosses her away from him. Then walks after her.

"I know what you want." he tells her.

She hits him and he hits back dropping her. She comes back up hitting and screaming, but not making much of a dent.

"I'm not gonna make it easy for you." Angel says as he dodges another hit.

"I'm evil! I'm bad! I'm evil!" Faith yells as she throws herself against him.

"Do you hear me? I'm bad! Angel, I'm bad!" She begins to sob, grabbing a hold of Angel's shirt and shaking him." I'm ba-ad. Do you hear me? I'm bad! I'm bad! I'm bad. Please. Angel, please, just do it."

Suddenly a dark haired man comes running out of the apartment building, with a huge knife.

"Angel please," Faith said sobbing. "just do it. Just do it. Just kill me. Just kill me." Angel wraps his arms around her shoulders and pulls her against him. She over balances them and they sink to their knees, Angel still holds her as she cries.

"Shh. It's all right." Angel says as he rocks Faith back and forth. "It's okay. I'm here. I'm right here. Shh."

The knife drops from the dark haired man's hand as he stands in the pouring rain, staring at them, while Faith cries and thunder rumbles overhead.

* * *

(Who the hell was that?) Tara asked as she woke up from her dream.

(What. What's wrong?) Angel asked. Then Tara told him what she saw in her dream.

(That was a very close friend of mine.) Angel informed her. (Her name is Faith.)

(Why is she so important to you?) Tara asked.

(Because she thought that she could just touch the darkness and walk away. She couldn't do it.) Angel tells her. (So she lost it and I helped her to get on the path to redemption.)

(You must have really cared about her alot.) Tara figured. (You let her beat you up pretty badly.)

(Well she is a Slayer. In fact she became the Slayer after Kendra's death.)

(Damnit!) Tara yelled in her mind as she started to gain some of Angel's memories about Faith.

(Since Kendra didn't die, Faith never gets her powers.)

(Yeah, where are you going with this?) Angel asked.

(If she never get's her powers then she's going to try to fight vampires anyway.)

(That's nonsense Tara. Faith would never...) he cut himself off as he thought about how wild his dark haired friend was when they met. (Okay good point, but what are you going to do about it?) he asked. Tara thought about that question for a minute before she replied.

(I have to go and get her.)

* * *

The rest of the school year went by very quickly. Seeing that Tara was a senior and never missed a day, the school board let her have her diploma a week early. Before she decided all of what she was going to do, she decided to settle things with Buffy. It wasn't easy.

They only managed to reconcile after Buffy caught the flu. After being admitted into the hospital, they both killed a demon called Der Kindestod, who killed Buffy's little cousin Celia, when Buffy was younger. After that their friendship started to mend a little. Their friendship got a little awkward again, when Buffy found out Tara took Angel's car. Only after explaining to her what she had to do, did she just let it slide.

After saying her goodbyes to Giles, Tara went to her car and was surprised to see Kendra with a duffle, standing by the passenger side of her convertible.

"What are you doing here?" Tara asked her friend.

"Me Watcher said dat I might need more training. So I told him about you. He told me to come to you and ask, if you would help to train me, but now you're leaving. So I decided to pack a few tings and go with you dat is..." Kendra said as she looked down. "if you'll let me?"

"Yeah." Tara replied with a smile as she took her bag. "I'd love to have you, hop in."

With that said, Kendra got in the passenger side of the car while Tara threw her bag in the trunk. As the two started to drive out of the parking lot, Tara looks up and see's Johnathon, Amy, and Xander standing there with duffle's of their own, slung on their shoulder's.

"What are you guys doin' ?" Tara asked as she drove up to where they were standing.

"Giles told us that you were leaving town for the summer, so we were hoping that we could come with you?" Amy told her.

"But what about school? You guys still have like a week left."

"Tara please." Xander said with a grin. "With these two brainiacs do you really think the school would care if they ditched a week early? As for me..." he said with a shrug. "I don't think a week off of school will kill me."

"Alright." Tara replied with a huge grin. "Throw your stuff in the trunk and let's hit the road."

* * *

"Where are we now Johnno?" Tara asked after hours of driving.

"We're in a place called Poho County." he said as he rechecked his map.

"Hey there's a diner up ahead." Amy said pointing in it's general direction.

"Good because I'm hungry and I so got to pee." Xander said as he started to fidget.

'So much for the Dark Knight.' Tara thought sarcasticly as she pulled up to the diner. As she did so, she immediately felt uncomfortable. Like something in the air was disturbed. A certain smell, maybe like it was demon or something. Pushing down the fear she felt, her and the others walked into the diner.

As they looked around the rundown restaurant, they were greeted with the sight of hillbilles. Pushing down the jokes Xander was about to make, he ran past his friends and walked up to the waitress behind the counter. After getting directions to where the bathroom's were he took off.

With an amused smile on her face, Tara and the others sat down in the nearest booth. As they sat down Tara noticed that everybody was staring at them. But when she looked up at them, they would shy away from their stares and just look away. Ignoring them she looked up and saw what looked to be an old church burning down on the TV.

"I'm Cindy and I'll be your waitress for tonight." a beautiful blonde said as she handed them all some menu's. "I'll give you folks a minute to pick out what you want to eat." she said as she started to walk off.

"Hey wait a minute." Tara called after her. "What is that all about?" she asked as she pointed at the TV screen. This also got everyone else's attention. Cindy turned towards the TV to see what she was talking about and let out a sigh.

"That happened about two day's ago." Cindy said as she took a nervous glance around the diner.

"Two teenagers reported seeing a guy dump a body down in that old church, but when the cops got to it, it was set on fire. When they put the fire out, they found like two hundred bodies under the church. Somehow the killer found out who told on him and he killed the boy. The two teenagers were brother and sister, and I heard that after her brother died that the girl went insane."

"So did de police ever catch de, killer?" Kendra spoke up for the first time.

"How could they, it was a monster." a new voice said from behind them. Turning they saw a tall, lanky, white male with dirty looking jeans, white t-shirt, and a baseball cap.

"What's up guys?" Xander asked as he emerged from the bathroom and sat in the booth with his friends.

"What did you mean that it was a monster?" Johnathon asked.

"Just forget him." Cindy said as she looked at the man in distaste. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

"The hell I don't!" the man growled. "I was there when that monster took that boy. It was...it was one of the most horrible things I ever did see."

"How did this monster look?" Tara asked.

"It was about 6' 2" , it was a greenish, brownish color and it had big wings like a a bat or a dragon." he told them.

"So when was de last time anyone heard of dis monster?" Kendra asked.

"Well according to my police scanner." he said as he pulled it from his belt clip. "The last time anyone had heard from it, it was in Kissel County."

"Thank you sir." Tara said as he walked off. Then she turned to the waitress. "Could you just get us all, some burgers and fries to go?" she asked. Cindy nodded and walked back to the kitchen.

* * *

As Cindy came with their orders the gang was about to walk out the door, when the man from before stopped them.

"I see that you kids want to hunt this thing." the man said with a stern look on his face. "If you're going to do that then take this." he said as he passed Johnathon the police scanner.

"It might just come in handy." he said as he walked off into the night.

"How did he know what we were going to do?" Johnathon asked.

"It doesn't matter." Tara said as she dug into her back pocket and pulled out a cellphone. "Amy call Giles and discribe the monster to him. Hopefully he'll come up with something and tell us what we're going up against."

"So where are we going now?" Xander asked Tara as Amy started to call Giles.

"We're going to Kissel county." she replied as she got into her car.

* * *

"So how did everything go?" a woman asked the stranger as he walked down a dark alley.

"It was a piece of cake." he replied in a new york accent, as he transformed into Whistler.

"But why did you want me to help those kids out?" Whistler asked.

"Because..." the woman said as she stepped out of the darkness, revealing herself to be Cordelia. "they are going to need to be prepared for the things to come."

* * *

"How far are we from Kissel County?" Tara asked as they continued to drive down East 9.

"Well according to this map... it should be another ten miles." Johnathon informed her.

"Hey what is dat man doing on top of dat bus?" Kendra asked as she pointed further down the road. As everyone looked up they all saw a figure crouching down on top of a bus in the distance.

As Tara drove closer to the bus, she switched on her high beams. As the light illuminated the figure on top of the bus he stood up and all of their eyes widened in silent horror. Because what they saw was a figure in a dark trench coat with huge bat wings sticking out of it's back.

TBC...

Please review...

A/N I wanted the characters that people paid little attention to in the show to finally get some spot light. So be prepared to see their characters step up. Also guess what movie I'm about to cross over with.


	19. Chapter 18 Jeepers Creepers 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the character's from Jeepers Creepers 2

I also did a little research and found out the events of Jeepers Creepers 1 and 2 happened in 1980. But I just wanted to use this for the summers interlude anyway.

A/N Thanks for the reviews. To Darklight Cordy will join the Scoobies sooner or later. Too Bakaman you were right it is Jeeper's Creepers. To home and charmed, the part about Faith is coming up after this chapter, I hope everybody likes it and this chapter. And kinetic-kid I'm glad you like this story and I'm glad you like the hunter keep reviewing.

Chapter 18

Jeepers Creepers 2

"Dragon Gaunlets!" Tara yelled out as she jumped from the drivers seat, to the hood of the car. Kendra had to grab the wheel and stop the car, to avoid running off of the road. From the hood, Tara jumped the twenty feet distance from the car to on top of the bus and started to fight the winged beast.

Seeing some people in the bus, the rest of the Scooby gang looked at each other and shrugged. Their desicion made they ran for the bus.

"Hey, open up!" Xander yelled as he looked inside of the bus and saw a geeky youth. As he shook with fear, the kid opened the door and Kendra, Amy, Johnathon, and Xander got on.

"Please help us!" a cute raven haired girl said as she ran up to them.

"That's what we're going to do." Johnathon told her. "We got somebody taking care of that thing now."

"No man is going to be able to take care of that thing." a tall blonde haired boy told them.

"Just trust us pal, Tara can take care of herself." Xander informed him. Then the boys eyes widened.

"You mean to tell me a girl is up there fighting that thing? Man she's going to get herself killed."

As if on cue the monster bounced off of the top of the hood of the bus, making everyone scream. It looked as if his clothes were burned and some parts of it's reptillian skin was exposed. The beast looked up and into the bus and wailed. It's horrible sound feeling the night air. Then he looked up to the top of the bus and growled at something. Standing up, it flew off into the night.

"I think she can take care of herself." Xander replied as he looked back at the youth. As he said this there was a knock on the door. As they opened it they saw that it was Tara.

"What the hell is going on here?" she asked as she stepped on the bus.

* * *

After about thirty minutes of telling them what they knew, the kids on the bus introduced themselves. In turn the Scoobies told them who they were. Just as the girl, known as Minxie was about to tell the gang about the vision she had before they arrived, Tara's cellphone rang.

"Hello." Tara said as she dug the phone out of her pocket. "Giles, yeah. What did you find out." she said as she stopped to listen. "Yeah I fought that thing too. Is that really what it is?" she asked as she stopped to listen again.

"Okay now how do we stop it?" she asked.

"You can't." Minxie spoke up, making Tara look in her direction.

"Hold on a second, Giles." Tara said as she put down the phone. "What are you talking about?"

"The boy in my vision told me, it can't be killed. It's going to eat us all." she said as she started to cry some.

"Giles I got somebody here that might know what's going on." Tara said as she handed the girl the phone. "This is Giles, just tell him what you know and he may be able to help us."

With that said Minxie started to talk to Giles. At the same time, Xander pulled Tara to the side.

"What did Giles say that thing was?"

"He said that it's some kind of a Creeper. It's a form of Gargoyle."

"You mean like that cartoon?" Johnathon asked, only for Tara to glare at him. "Forget I said anything." he said as he sat back down, as Amy patted him on the shoulder sympatheticly.

"Dude these people are nuts." Scotty whispered to Jake.

"Tell me about it." Scotty whispered back. "I say we take their car and get the hell out of here."

"And go where exactly?" Kendra asked. With her Slayer hearing she had heard their conversation. "De moment you step off of dis bus, dat ting could come to get you."

"Why don't you mind your own damn business bitch!" Scotty snapped as he pointed a flare gun at her. "In fact I want the keys to that car out there."

As Scotty leveled the gun at her head, his hand started to violently shake. Before he knew what was going on the gun was snatched out of his hand by an unseeable force. Looking up about five seats up, he saw that the honey blonde, Amy had it in her hand.

Before he could even complete the thought of how she was able to get the gun, Tara grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and lifted him off of his feet.

"If you ever try to attack one of my friends again, you want have to worry about the creeper killing you, because I will." Tara told him coldly.

"Tara."

"Yeah." Tara said looking back at Kendra.

"It's comin' back."

Feeling the Creepers presense herself, Tara dropped Scotty and listened out into the night.

**_WOOOSSHHHHH! _**An inky black smear flies past the right side of the bus- big enough to blot out the moonlight in each window as it speeds by. It makes everyone scream.

Tracking it's trajectory, Tara moved to the back of the bus. As she looked out of the emergency door's window, she saw the Creeper out on the road looking up at her.

The Creeper is a hideous thing, with it's wings outstretched, and it's coat hanging off it's reptillian form. It bares it's fangs as it stands in the middle of the two lane watching her.

As long as Tara would live, she would always remember the evil smile that the Creeper gave her. As he opened his mouth again he revealed a razor sharp network of teeth. Giving her one final glance, it jumped on top of the bus.

"Open the door." Tara said as she walked to the front of the bus.

"Are you crazy?" Bucky asked as he stood to his feet. "That thing could come in here and kill us all."

"It's not going to kill anyone else, because I'm going to kill it. Now open the door."

"I'm going with you." Kendra said as she walked up behind her.

"No." Tara said as she looked back at her friend. "If anything happens I need someone strong enough to get these people out of here."

"But I'm de Slayer..."

"And I'm your teacher." Tara replied.

"Alright." Kendra agreed. "Just be careful." with that Bucky opened the door and Tara jumped on the top of the bus.

When she got there, the Creeper again was just standing there at the end of the bus watching her with that creepy smirk on it's face. As she slowly started to walk towards it, it began to sniff the air.

"Your feeding time is over." Tara mutters as her extender sword telescopes down into her hand. With a growl from the Creeper, the two charge each other.

* * *

"Kendra what are we going to do if that thing get's past Tara?" Amy asked, as she hears the battle going on over head.

"I don't know." Kendra admitted with a sigh. "We can't all fit in de car, so..."

"We can go through the corn field." Scotty said as he walked up to them. "The way I'm figuring, if this part of the field is fenced off, then there has to be a barn or a farm out there somewhere."

"We talked about this before Scotty." Izzy said as he stood to his feet and walked to him.

"There's no way in hell I'm going out there. That thing would pick us off one by one."

"Why not just call the police?" Bucky asked. "We have a cellphone now."

"And tell them what exactly?" Xander asked. "A monster is trying to kill us all. And besides..." he said with a shake of his head. "they'll never be able to kill that thing. Just trust us and we'll handle the situation."

Before anyone could argue that point, the group heard a loud banging noise. As they looked up they saw the Creepers face looking in at them through the hole he had made earlier. The hole that was right above Johnathon.

With a smirk the demon reached down into the bus and grabbed Johnathon by the hair. The kids on the bus started to scream as it, started to lift Johnathon higher up into the hole.

"Look out!" a beautiful brunette yelled out. She charges through the fray with the javelin as Johnathon screams and goes higher towards the hole.

Rhonda thrusts the spear upward, right through the roof of the bus and through the Creeper's shoulder. It comes out the other side as it wails in agony, like a demon from hell.

Rhonda is still holding onto the spear and she yanks it down with all her might savagely pulling the spear out of the Creeper's shoulder. It wails again in agony.

The Creeper's hand pulls Johnathon up harder now. He hits the ceiling. Kendra takes the spear out of Rhonda's hand and leaps forward with the spear again. Thrusting it up even harder.

A tremendous wail sounds out from on top of the bus and Johnathon falls back down hard.

"Johnathon are you okay?" Amy asks as she helps him to his feet and away from the hole.

"Just peachy." he says with a wince as he runs his hands through his hair.

* * *

The Creeper is on his knees and staggers back as he tries to stand. As he turns we can see that the javelin has gone out the back of it's head. One of it's eyeballs is skewered at the tip of it. The Creeper then grabs the pole and starts to pull it back down through his head. The eyeball with it.

This becomes excruciating to it. The Creeper thrashes around still gripping the pole, which is starting to rip through the dusty consistency of the upper part of his head.

Inside the teens can only hear it wail. They then see the javelin as it falls past the windshield onto the road. The kids watch breathlessly. Feeling brave, Double D. slips into a forward seat to try and peer up through the hole in the roof.

As he looks out he see's the Creeper standing and in horrible pain. It's mouth roars open in profile and he looks intact, but when he whirls his head toward the hole his right eye and surrounding forehead are missing.

Double D. watches in a daze, then he whispers to the rest.

"Half his fucking head's gone..."

The Creeper rages again and launches himself up into the night sky. He goes up so high that both he and his wail are swallowed up by the darkness.

"Fuck..." was all Double D could say as he watched the Creeper.

Boys and girls then crowd the hole and the windows to look up. Exchanging looks afraid to think that maybe the tables have turned. Some try to laugh finally -a nervous laugh halted by...

A whistling sound from high above.It get's louder and faster as it cuts through the night. Like a bomb dropping.

* * *

As Tara wakes up, from being knocked out by the Creeper, she looks up and see's something falling from the sky.

"Oh shit!" she yells as she jumps from the top of the bus and lands in the fields. Overdoing her jump, she slips and hits her head on a rock. Knocking herself unconscious.

Before the kids on the bus know what's going on...KA-BLAMMM! Something large and dark plummets out of the night and onto the roof of the bus. The glass on all the side windows blow out, raining over the two-lane.

The bus jolts massively as people are thrown from their seats. Some hit the floor from the impact. In the next instant the whole thing rocks to stillness. And silence. The Kids stare in disbelief. At the center of the bus, the roof has buckled severely.

Izzy shakes his head "no" as he see's something. It can't be what he thinks it is.

He and others rush to the driver seat, attempting to see up through the hole.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Johnathon says as he looks outside the window. He see's the tip of the Creeper's wing.

At the belly of the bend, two sections of sheet metal have split revealing part of the Creeper's body. Jake leads with his flashlight as he and others examine it. Whatever part it is, -a breeze from the missing windows starts to blow it away...in tiny drifts of dust...

"Man, this thing is cooked." Jake says to himself.

"Yeah, but where's Tara?" Xander asks.

Scotty stares at the wing a moment longer and nods to Bucky.

"Get that door open." Scotty tells him as he looks at the others. "We go. Now."

"Hold on man, you're not the leader here." Xander says as he walks up to him.

"And who the fuck do you think you're talking to?" Scotty asked, not backing down.

"Enough you two." Kendra said as she pulled on Xander's arm. "We have to get out of here and find Tara. Den we can go and try to get help."

Seeing that Kendra was on his side, Scotty looked over at the team manager.

"Bucky!" he called out. Bucky is already pulling the handle but it won't give.

"Something got screwed up!" he informs them. Others then come to help. Double D. slams against the doors while, others grapple the handle with Izzy.

"Get that shit off the exit and get it open!" Scotty yells as he moves over to Jake.

Jake looks at him like "easy for you to say". He motions to the severely sealed up rear door. Scotty starts pulling at the ropes. The bus rocks as Double D. slams into the doors at the front of the bus.

All of the frantic activity stops as they hear a groaning sound of metal. It only gets louder and louder as the kids turn towards the center of the bus. Some recoil into their seats as...

KEE-RANNKK! The split in the roof gives way and a giant wing crashes into the center of the bus. Kids flee in both directions -until the gray dust settles and reveals the massive wing is not moving. Most stand silent in a kind of awe of the wing's incredible physiognomy. It's translucent from one side in the flashlight beam.

"Come on, D'." Kimball says as he nods to the back side of the bus. "Everybody. This side."

The thought of having to traverse the wing is not a happy one. No one wants to be the first.

"He's right man, come on." Xander calls out.

"I am not gonna touch that thing!" Double D says incredously.

"This is the way out man," Kimball says seriously. "you just gonna sit back there and wait for the Red Cross?" he asks. "Get your ass over here."

Double D. approaches the wing warily. Then he studies it closely. He then starts to climb around it. Over seats to avoid contact.Double D. comes down behind the wing, on the front half of the bus. Chelsea is next, but she shakes her head 'no'. Izzy pushes his way through. Steps to the wing. Stares at it. Doesn't climb over the seats. He's feeling braver. He squeezes around it.

He then pushes against it to clear his path and realizes its folding capabilities.

"This thing's like a fucking shower curtain man." he says as he looks at the others.

"Look."

He folds the wing up a bit. Then he laughs nervously as he does it again. This time he does it really high and walks under it to the other side. He turns and lets Chelsea and Rhonda step under it as he holds it up higher.

"Come on..." he says to the next group of kids. Dante is next and not to be out done, he grabs the wing and folds it up even more.

"Shower curtain?" Dante questions as he holds it up even higher. "This is a fucking piece of toilet paper."

As he says this the great wing unfurls at lightning speed and wraps around Dante, cocooning him in it's leathery fabric. Both sides of the bus population rear back -piling up at entrances and exits that cannot open. They watch Dante's body struggle inside the powerful wing as if he were trapped inside a giant Anaconda.

Kids bang on both exits, screaming at the horror of...the wing wrapping even tighter and starting to lift him up through the split ceiling. Like a hideous curtain, veiling with its thin membrane Dante's entire body.

The kids can see Dante's face trying to breathe as it goes up out of sight...Izzy, Kendra, Johnathon, and Double D. charge forward and almost fall onto the wing. As they wrap their arms around Dante's wing-wrapped body, it quakes violently as they grapple with it. Trying to pull him down, yanking harder and harder, until he slips out of the wing as it disappears back up onto the roof and a crimson splatter spraying the ceiling overhead...

Kendra and the others crash to their knees with rescued Dante. Then they realize something is horribly wrong. They back away, leaving Dante kneeling on the bus floor without his head. His arms are still moving as he falls forward.

* * *

The Creeper kneels on top of the bus in the deep indentation of the roof. It then rips at it's shirt...The Creeper then stands as it's tattered clothes fall to its feet. His wings unfurl, as he grapples his badly damaged head with both hands and tears it off its shoulders with a horrible wail.

The Creeper's head is only attached to the tentacle plate by some gummy strings of goo -they finally snap off... The Creeper's head hits the asphalt as kids inside watch this, still frantically pounding away, at the doors.

Tentacles then reach down inside the half skull and pull up the Creeper's new head.Which is Dante's. His own pinkish skin cradle's in place by the tentacles, as it assimilates into the grayish tone of the Creeper's wrinkled flesh.

Chelsea, Amy, and the others try to peek up through the split roof to see -when GLOOP! A slimy glob of something falls onto the girl's faces. They all freak out.

Other's stare up, just catching a glimpse of the Creeper launching into the air from the top of the bus. Just as Jake gets the last of the lashings off the rear exit and it swings it open All the kids look to Kendra, silently wondering what they should do, when suddenly, Braddock blasts towards the back exit and lurches onto the asphalt.

Before he can take two steps on the road, Double D., Kimball and others follow.

A mass exodus of the bus begins. Attention on the sky. As the kids flee off the road and across the field, they see the Creeper swooping down.

"Ruuuunnnnnn!" Izzy yells as the Creeper sweeps in from above, like a crop duster, lowering to snatching level.

The Creeper grins as he smells the fear coming off of all of the kids. Taking a ninja star like object, out of his duster he throws it and kills one of the kids as they run. As he kills another boy, he fly's down low and takes his body up and into the night. As it comes back a few minutes later, it swoops down even lower and see's another target, standing by a tree. Taking out a knife made out of bone he throws it at him.

* * *

"What the hell are we going to do now!" Scotty yells out as he put his hand on a tree. He had already witnessed some of his friends die, and they couldn't find any farm. Before anyone could answer him a knife suddenly embedded itself in his hand, pinning him to the tree. Looking up he saw the Creeper flying closer and closer to them.

"I'm sorry." he cried out as he looked over at Kendra, who was desperately trying to get the knife out of his hand. "I'm sorry for what I said to you earlier. Just please help me."

Just as Kendra yanked the knife out of his hand, the Creeper swooped down and grabbed him. Not being able to grab him in time, she, Xander, Amy, Johnathon, and Double D. could only watch in horror as the Creeper took Scotty screaming off into the night.

"What the hell do we do now?" Double D. asked as he looked over at Kendra.

"We have to get back to de bus." As they run for the bus, they see the Creeper flying down towards them. As the group panics and screams...

SKEEEEOOOSSSHHHH! Something rockets into the Creeper so fast and so hard, it sends it flying out into the air in a whirling mass of wings and limbs.

The Creeper somersaults higher and higher until THWONK! The cable that is now attached to it runs out of slack abruptly halting it.

The Creeper wails as he looks down with wide eyes at one of the Taggerts homemade harpoons, that has skewered him through the stomach. He see's that the long cable attached to the spear leads back to, the Taggart truck blasting across the field from the two-lane!

Taggart is in the truck bed strapped to his post puncher,taking up the slack on the cable by turning a large hand crank at its spool. The Creeper doesn't know what to make of it, as he soars to a higher altitude still tethered.

Kendra, Amy, Johnathon, Xander and Double D. screech to a halt at the far end of the field, after they hear the commotion. They then stare up atthe impossibility of a crazy man in a pick-up truck who has just harpooned this Creature!

The Creature grabs the metal spear and yanks on it. Glares down the cable at the distant truck and takes off higher into the sky...

The hand crank spins as cable flies off the spool again.Until it runs out, knotted at the end to stay there.

The Creeper's ascension is again abruptly stopped, as a huge fireball hit's him. As they look in the field to see where the source of the flames are coming from, they see Tara, with a pissed off look on her face.

As the Creeper looks down at her, their eyes suddenly meet.With a glare, Tara's eyes turn an eerie blue as her Dragon Gaunlet's flare a bright red. Sending out a huge wave of fire, the beast wails, a horrible sound that tears across the night...

As Tara unleashed one last volley of fire, The Creeper plummets back to the earth with such force that it cracks the street where it falls. With a look of cold rage on his face, Jack Taggert takes a homemade harpoon off of his truck bed and walks toward where the Creepers body is.

When he get's there, he see's that the Creeper's body is a mangled mess. It's wings, an arm and one of it's legs are missing. With a clear picture of what it did to his son, Jack lift's the harpoon over his head and plunges it into the Creeper's heart.

The Creeper only looks up at him and gurgles out blood. It's still not dead. Taking the harpoon forcibly out of it's chest Jack plunges it into his chest, again and again and again and again... He's putting his heart and soul into each blow. Even though he couldn't get his son back he still wanted revenge.

All around Jack the surviving teens and the Scoobies watch as the older man keeps stabbing the vicious beast. With one final thrust Jack again buries the harpoon deep in the Creepers heart. With one final glare the Creeper closes it's eye's and a patch of reptillian skin covers it's face.

"It's still not dead." Tara informs him.

"It looks dead to me." Mr. Taggert says as he looks up at her.

"In about twenty three more years, that thing is going to come back."

"I don't think so." Minxie said as she ran up to her. "Mr. Giles found a spell." she said as she handed Tara the cellphone.

"I'll see you in hell." Tara whispers as she looks down at the still form of the Creeper.

"No Giles I wasn't talking to you." Tara says into the phone.

* * *

"Tara are you sure it was smart to give that guy, the demon's body?" Xander asked as they all piled back into the car. He was going to drive since, Tara was tired.

"After what that thing did to his son, I would have given him anything." she replied as she let out a long sigh. What was even more disturbing is that they found an old ice cream truck not to far away. And what they found inside was bodies wrapped and roped in bloody sheets. There were seven at least and more hanging from hooks on either side of freezer walls."Besides, me and Amy did a binding spell on it and if the spell holds like Giles said it would, we'll never have to worry about that thing again."

"So where to now?" Xander asked as he honked the horn at the Taggerts and the rest of the surviving teens, as he pulled onto the road.

"To Boston." Tara replied as she closed her eyes. She was totally exhausted.

"Hopefully." Johnathon added as he began to laugh nervously.

TBC...

Please review...

I pretty much kept some stuff close to the movie. Now the reason the creeper didn't kill Tara on top of the bus is because Tara didn't fear it. The creeper thrives on fear and finds out what he needs from people because of it.

As for jack taggert here's the story on him. In the beginning of Jeepers creepers 2 the creeper kills his youngest son, so he is looking for revenge. Just watch jeepers creepers 2 and you'll see what I'm talking about.


	20. Chapter 19 Boston and Down

A/N Thanks for the reviews. I've tried to write this chapter like three different way's but I decided to do it like this. I hope you guy's like it.

Chapter 19

Boston and Down

It took another three days for the kids to finally make it to Boston. Unlike Sunnydale, it was alway's cold or raining in Boston. Checking into the nearest hotel, the group sat in the girls bedroom as they started to talk about what they were going to do next.

"So when are we going to go out and look for your friend?" Johnathon asked as he reclined back on Kendra's bed.

"Tomorrow." Tara replied as she finished putting her things into a dresser.

"She must be very special to you to drive across the country to see her?" Amy asked as she sat down beside Johnathon.

"Actually I never met her." Tara admitted as she sat on the floor in a meditation stance. Everyone's mouth dropped open at her admission.

"So you mean to tell me that you came all the way to Boston, to see someone you never met?" Xander asked. At her nod he continued. "Tara you are officially the wierdest person I ever met."

"Even weirder then a preying mantis lady?" she asked only for his eyes to go wide. Johnathon and the others just looked at them with a "what the hell are you talking about" look.

"Moving on." Xander said as he sat down beside her. "So why did you come all this way to check on her?"

"Because it's just...complicated."

"Come on Tara." Kendra said as she sat up in her bed. "Why is dis girl so important to ya?"

"Because I...okay I'll level with you." Tara said as she stared at the Jamaican Slayer.

"You were supposed to die at the hands of Drusilla and Faith, the girl I'm here to get, was supposed to become the Slayer after you."

"How...how do you know dis?" Kendra asked stunned.

"Hello...vision girl remember." Tara said with a nervous grin. She still wasn't sure if she had did the right thing by telling her about how she was supposed to die.

"About those." Xander said as he duplicated the meditation stance Tara was in. "These visions of yours are...vivid. After all of the study sessions the G-man made us go through, I never heard of visions being this detailed."

(Damn I never knew Xander could be this perceptive.) Angel whispered in Tara's mind.

(Maybe it's because of his possession.) Tara figured. Batman was one of the worlds greatest detectives.

(Yeah maybe.) Angel whispered back to her.

"Hey I work with what I get." Tara told Xander with a shrug.

"Whatever." Xander said with a frown as he stood to his feet and strecthed. "Come on Johnno, let's give the girls some space so they can get some sleep." with that said the two left the room. As soon as they did, Amy started to giggle. As Kendra and Tara looked at her, she explained why she was laughing.

"I was just thinking that this is my first sleepover."

"It's mine too." Tara admitted. Then they thought about something to discuss and they exclaimed it at the same time. "Boys."

* * *

"I saw you checking out Kendra earlier." Johnathon told Xander as he cut on the TV. "You must like her or something?"

"Kendra's okay." Xander said as he sat on his bed. At Johnathon's look, he quickly added.

"Okay she's totally hot, but she's to much like Giles for my tastes. Besides..." Xander said with a grin. "I see her checking you out all the time."

"Really?" Johnathon asked with a wide smile. He had to admit, he'd been checking out the Jamaican Slayer himself.

"Yeah really." Xander said as his smile faded.

"So who do you like?" Johnathon asked, not noticing the troubled look on his friends face.

"I like...I like Tara." Xander admitted. "But there's just something about her. Something that she's holding back from us all."

"Hey man." Johnathon said as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Tara hasn't done anything to hurt us, so stop worrying. If you like her just go and talk to her then."

"So are you going to talk to Kendra then?" Xander asked. Johnathon immediately went pale from the question.

"Wha... me talk to..." Xander only laughed from his friends nervousness.

* * *

"I totally like Xander." Amy said from her position on the floor. "I mean Johnathon has been hitting the gym and is getting a little buff, but Xander is totally a hotty. So who do you like Kendra?" Kendra immediately blushed from the question.

"I...I like Johnathon." she said nervously.

"Really?" Amy asked. "I would have thought that you would try to go after Xander. I could totally see you two together. So why don't you go and talk to him?"

"Because I was never allowed to talk to boys." she said sadly. "Me Watcher said dat it would interfere with me Slayer studies and training."

"Well he's not here now honey." Amy said with a huge smile. "You have a real future now and me and the gang are going to make sure of it. So if you like Johnno then you should tell him."

"I guess." Kendra replied quietly.

"So who do you like Tara?" Amy asked.

"What?" Tara asked as she looked up from drawing. "Sorry I was busy with something. What did you say?"

"I asked which of the guys on the team do you like, but I think I already know who it is."

"Oh." Tara said bemused. "And who would that be?"

"It was Angel wasn't it?" she asked as she pointed an accusing finger at her. Tara just looked at her with wide eyes. She was completely speechless.

(Tara likes me, Tara likes me) Angel sing songed in her mind.

(Quiet you.) Tara thought back to him as she smiled.

"Aha." Amy said, mis-understanding Tara's smile. "I knew you liked him."

"You don't know what you're talking about." Tara said as she got up and sat on her bed.

"Oh I don't do I?" Amy asked. "Tara come on, everyone saw it. You two used to call each other brother and sister, but when you thought no one was looking I saw you checking him out."

"Just drop it Amy." Tara said defensively. "He's dead now and okay I did love him as...as a kind of a brother figure. That's just... that's just get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow."

Not wanting to upset her friend even more, Amy got up and turned off the lights.

The next day

After getting room service and eating the gang went out together and checked out the sights. As they did so Amy apologized for what happened last night. Tara did the same. As the day quickly turned into night, the gang silently prowled the streets in Tara's car.

"So do you know where your friend is?" Xander asked as he watched the scenery go by. It seemed as if they were going into the badder parts of down town Boston. He could see drug dealers, dealing drugs and prostitutes propositioning John's as they drove by them.

"I have some leads." she said as she made a turn. When Angel visited Faith in jail she often would tell him of her past. Including where she was around this time of her life.

Seeing a rundown looking apartment building, she pulled into a parking lot and got out.

"You guys stay here and watch the car." Tara told them as she began to walk towards the building. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she left the pimps and some thugs started to look at the car, Kendra and Amy.

(You had better tell me what to say to her.) Tara told Angel. She still remembered how Gunn reacted to her when they had first met.

(Okay, okay.) Angel agreed as he started to whisper some information to her. As they continued their mental conversation, Tara saw the door she was looking for and knocked on the door.

* * *

"Hey dog." a big burly thug said to Xander. "How much for that fine white bitch?" he asked as he leered at Amy.

"First of all she's my friend." Xander told him as he stepped out of the car. "And secondly if you want to keep your shiny gold teeth in your mouth you'll never talk to her like that again."

"Is that so?" the thug asked as he looked up at Xander. "Well I think me and my homies would disagree." he said as five more thugs emerged out of the darkness.

"Damn, the things I do for friendship." Xander muttered as he flicked his hand up and punched the thug he was talking to in the jaw.

* * *

"Yeah what the hell do you want?" Faith asked as she cradled a baby in her arms.

'Faith looks beautiful.' Angel thought to himself as he looked at her through Tara's eyes. Looking at her now, he could just look into her eyes and see the scared little girl that was hiding there.

But when they first met he didn't see that. He saw someone that was strong and wasn't afraid of anything. But looking at her now he could tell that, it was just a cover up. That scared little girl was alway's in there.

She proved that the night she came to him, begging him to kill her. To end her life. She looked so sad that day. So tired. But looking at her now, he knew that maybe he and Tara could get her out of here, and hopefully change her life for the better.

(Whose the kid?) Tara asked Angel, snapping him out of his musings.

(Faith told me that she used to babysit some of the neighbors kids for money. She didn't want to sell her body like her mom did and she was too young to strip so she did this. She's planning on using the money so she can run away.) At least that's what she had told him anyway. But the whole time Angel always suspected that she did strip and sell her body sometimes. He had always felt that Faith was holding things back from him.

"Listen my name is Tara and I just wanted to talk to you for a minute." she told her.

"Oh hey Mrs. Mckenzie." Faith said as she handed the baby over to the woman behind Tara.

"Hold on a sec." she said as she dissappeared into the apartment. As she came back she handed the older woman a baby bag.

"Thank you dear, you're a life saver." the older woman said as she handed Faith some money and walked off with her baby.

"Are you still here?" Faith asked as she looked at Tara in annoyance. "Listen whatever you're selling I ain't buying." she told her as she started to close the door, only for Tara to wedge her foot in it.

"I'm not trying to sell you anything, Faith."

"How the hell do you know my name?" Faith asked through narrowed eyes.

"I know everything about you, Faith."

"Is that a fact?" Faith asked with an amused tone. "And just what the fuck is it that you know about me?"

"I know that when you were a little girl, that you wanted to be a dancer."

"Is that it?" Faith asked with a scowl on her face. "That's all you fucking know about me? This is so lame..." she said as she again attempted to close the door, only for Tara to wedge her foot in it again.

"And I know why that little girl never became that dancer. It was because her mother used to drink and tell the girl that she was worthless. That she was nothing. All the girl wanted was just to be loved and cared for, but everytime she went to her mom for that love, she got beaten. When the girl got older she would go out and seek the attention she never got with her mom, from older guys. When she found out that they were just using her for her body, the girl started to cut herself."

"Very touching story." Faith said, even though she silently wondered how this strange girl knew of her past. "But why don't you and that little girl screw yourselve's and get the hell out of here?"

"Faith please just listen to me. My name is Tara Maclay and I came all the way from California, just so I could meet you. I came to tell you that you're not worthless. You have a very special destiny to follow and there are some things out there in the world, that seem impossible. Believe it or not Faith but you're very special. All I'm asking is for just five minutes of your time so we can talk. Maybe we could just go for a walk or something."

"Yeah sure." Faith said humouring her. "Just stay here and I'm going to get my jacket." she said as she closed the door.

(So do you think she'll come with us?) Tara asked Angel.

(Probably not.) he answered honestly. (But I really just wanted to make sure she was okay and to warn her of the dangers of the night, before her Watcher shows up in her life.)

* * *

"That bitch is crazy." Faith muttered to herself as she crawled through the window and out onto the fire escape. "I'm so getting the hell out of here."

As she ran from the apartment, she bumped into some guys that were in the middle of a street brawl.

"How long does it take to get a jacket?" Tara asked herself as she knocked on Faith's door. Not getting an answer, she twisted the knob and walked in.

* * *

"Damn!" Tara cursed as she saw that the room was empty and the window was open.

As she made it downstairs and out to the parking lot, she saw Kendra and Xander punching some thugs hard in the face. Sending out a vicious spin kick to her opponents face, Kendra ended the fight.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Tara asked as she walked up to them.

"We were just giving these guys a friendly beatdown." Xander said as the punks in question, got up and ran off into the night. Then he looked up at her. "What's up?" he asked as he noticed the look on her face.

"Faith ran. Have you seen her?" she asked.

"Well it would help if we knew what she looked like."

"Oh sorry." she said as she reached into her duster pocket. After unfolding a crumbled up piece of paper, she showed them a hand drawn picture of Faith. "This is what she looks like. Have you seen her?"

"Yeah..." Xander said after a moment of looking the picture over. "She bumped into me when we were fighting these guys."

"Which way did she go?"

"Ummmm... that way." Xander said as he pointed towards a group of buildings. Remembering her vampiric senses, Tara began to sniff the air. Seeing that Xander was correct, they hopped in her car and drove off.

* * *

Faith glanced nervously over her shoulder, as she ducked down an alley.

'Man there are some wierdo's in this world.' she thought to herself, not noticing the danger that lurked down the alley.

"Hey babe let's bang bodies." a husky voice said just in front of her. Looking up she saw a man wearing all leather, with a sadistic smile on his face.

"Fuck off!" Faith shouted as she started to walk around him, only for the big man to grab her arm.

"I wasn't asking, I was telling." he said a his face contorted to something demonic causing her to scream. Managing to get out of his grasp, she attempted to run only to find that three more of the things stepped out in front of her.

"She is a pretty one." one of them leered as they formed a loose circle around her. Faith got in a loose fighting stance as she watched them all in turn. 'If these things are going to kill me then I'm going out fighting.' she thought to herself. What happened next Faith would remember for the rest of her life. One of them exploded into ashes.

Looking up they all see Tara standing there with a stake in her hand.

"Hi guys." she said with a wink. "Mind if I join the party?" Not waiting for an answer she kicks one of them in the chest. As the fight starts one vamp is smart enough to realize that Tara is fighting unnaturally strong. Pushing Faith to the ground he attempts to run out of the alley, only for a cross to be shoved into his face.

Looking up he see's a short pasty looking kid and a beautiful black girl. The last thing he saw was a stake coming up and then nothing at all as he turned into dust.

"Are you okay?" Tara asked as she extended her hand. Taking the preoffered hand Faith stood to her feet and brushed the back of her clothes off.

"What the hell we're those things?" Faith asked as they began to walk out of the alley.

"Those were some of the impossible things, I was telling you about." Tara said with a little smile. Faith just gave her a look.

"Okay...okay." Tara said as she looped an arm around the younger girls shoulder. "I'll just start from the beginning. Into each generation a Slayer is born, one girl in all the world, a Chosen One, one born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires..."

Two days later

Faith took the existance of vampires and demons surprisingly well. After Tara explained Faith's role in the fight against darkness she agreed to come with them.(she didn't tell her that if Kendra died that she would become the Slayer though.) She got along with the rest of the group pretty well, all except Kendra. She found her to be to much of a stick in the mud and she silently promised to change that. Especially if they were going to be traveling partners.

Surprisingly enough it seemed that she took a liking to Johnathon. She would always wink at him and make suggestive comments. But to Tara it seemed that, that was the only reason why she liked him so much. Just because she would always get him to blush and drool all over her.

"Hey Tar' we're going to get something to eat, you coming with?" Faith asked as she threw the duffel bag Tara bought her into her trunk. It still surprised everyone that after 16 years of life all that Faith had in this world was confined to a duffel bag. But neither of them judged her.

"No I'm just going to drop you guys off." Tara replied as she and the others got into the car. "I have some business to take care of before we leave town."

Faith just gave her a look, shrugged and then got in the car.

As Tara dropped the Scoobies and it's newest member off at the nearest diner, she drove off into the night.

Boston Warehouse District

Tara nimbly jumped from rooftop to rooftop of the warehouse buildings, listening for the slightest noise. Her ears perked up as she heard someone laughing. Going to the direction of that horrible sound, she slowly slid down the skylight of the nearest building.

"I'm telling you boss, we should franchise out to some more major cities." a black vampire with a business suit was saying to his sire.

"And I'm telling you Mr. Trick that I'm perfectly content with keeping my operation the way it is." Kakisto's said as he emerged out of the shadows and sat on his throne like chair. "So why would I want to move my operations?" he asked as he started to laugh. As he did so he heard another voice laughing along with him.

This voice was that of a girls. Stopping his own laughter he listened on as a girl laughed maniacally.

"What the hell." Trick said as he looked around the room to determine where the intruder was. Her laughter only bounced off the walls, making an echo cast about the room.

"Who goes there?" Kakisto's growled out. Just as suddenly as the laughter started it stopped. Then a figure emerged out of the darkness with long honey blonde hair, wearing all black.

"You must have a death wish little girl?" Trick asked.

"No I don't have a death wish." the girl replied as a bright light flashed on her arms, revealing golden gaunlets. "And I'm not a little girl, I'm an Angel." With that she brought her palms together and fire started to gather in her hands.

Kakisto's, Trick, and his minion's screams could be heard throughout the night, as the flame quickly started to engulf them.

Thirty minutes later

"So did you finish de business you went off to do?" Kendra asked as she and the others got into the car.

"Yeah I did." she said with a slight smile, as she turned on the radio.

"And in further news, a mysterious fire spread in the downtown factory district. Witnesses say..." Tara then quickly turned off the radio. Nobody seemed to notice though.

"So where are we going now, Captain?" Johnathon asked with a stupid grin.

"I have a friend who I haven't seen or heard from in awhile." Tara said as she turned around to look at him. "He lives in a place called Raccoon city."

"We'll Raccoon City here we come." Johnathon told them.

Sametime

Faith's apartment

A woman in her late thirties knocked on Faith's door and looked on with utter discontent as a man answered the door.

"Yeah what the hell do you want?" the guy asked. The woman just perched her glasses up higher on her nose, startled at the boys language.

"Yes, my name is Evelyn Davis and I'm looking for a Miss Faith Stevens." the woman said in a british accent. "I was hoping that you could direct me towards her?"

"Well that Faith bitch used to be my girlfriend, but she skipped town to go some place with a group of wierdo's."

"Do you know where I might find her?" she asked again ignoring his language. Her only answer was for him to slam the door in her face. "Yes thanks for your time." she muttered under her breath as she took out a cellphone and dialed a number.

"Yes sir this is Evelyn." she said into the phone as she stopped to listen. "No sir she's not here. I went to her apartment but her...boyfriend told me that she skipped town." she stopped to listen again.

"Yes Mr. Travers, I'll report to England at once." she said as she hung up the phone. "I think it would have been a pleasure to have been your Watcher Miss Faith." Evelyn muttered to herself as she walked off.

TBC...

Please review...

I know in real life Faith probably wouldn't have gone with them, but hey thank God for fanfic. Also she was just living at her boyfriends apartment, it wasn't her's. I didn't want Faith to come off as a ho or anything, so that's why I made up that part about her babysitting. So I could show a different side of her character. I hope I didn't dissappoint anyone with this chapter, but part of it was based off of a promise. I had to find a way to get rid of Kakisto's and keep Faith's Watcher alive.


	21. Chapter 20 Resident Evil Pt 1

A/N Thanks for the reviews. I was worried that people wouldn't have liked that chapter. To Darklight, sorry but Faith isn't going to get a Watcher. It's only because I have other plans for her. Also someone will let it slip that Faith will become the Slayer after Kendra. Just sit back and watch how that turns out.

Also this chapter is sort of a combination of Resident Evil 2 the video game and Resident Evil the first movie. I hope you guys enjoy part one of this chapter.

Chapter 20

Resident Evil Pt 1

Raccoon City, Day's later

Twilight had settled across the mountain's, painting the jagged horizon in shades of purple dusk. The shadowed hills towered into the cloudless sky, strecthing toward the first faint glimmerings of starlight.

Tara's convertible cruises down a street lined with abandoned cars and trucks. No drivers, no passengers, no pedestrians are in sight.

"Who the Fuck calls their town Raccoon city?" Faith asked as they drove through the outskirts of the city.

"I'm with you on that one." Xander said as he looked over at her. "Who the hell names a place after an animal?"

"It's pronounced Rack-on city, not Raccoon." Tara corrects them with a small laugh that quickly dies as she see's a woman laying face first on the road. Screeching the car to a halt about twenty feet from the body, Tara and Amy get out to investigate.

"She's cold." Amy announced as she reached down to see if the woman had a pulse. "Who the hell could have done something like this?"

Something smelled bad. In fact something smelled like shit.As Tara thought this, all of them hear a soft moan. Looking up they see some people shuffling out of neighboring alleys. Tara was relieved to see more people. Ever since arriving in the city they hadn't seen any form of human life.

It was four people staggering towards them, as if they were drunk. But something was wrong. One of them had blood all over his shirt and hands. And dripping out of his mouth was a thick foam of blood, that came out of his pasty rotting face. On further expection, Tara could see that the people weren't alive at all. They were zombies.

Before she could issue a warning to the others Amy let out a blood curdling scream. Looking back Tara saw that the woman that they thought was dead grabbed Amy's leg and tried to take a bite out of it. Stomping down with all of her might, Tara crushed the zombies head. The sickening crunch of the bone sounded off throughout the night.

Seeing that Amy was okay, Tara looked over and saw that her friends were already fighting off against the zombies. Xander must have managed to get to the trunk because he was wielding a battle axe.

Seeing that a zombie was coming up behind Faith, as she was busy punching another zombie in the face, Tara took out a small dagger and threw it. The dagger embedded itself in the zombies forehead and with a final wail it feel to the ground and died. Xander had barely managed to decapitate his zombie, and Kendra visciously snapped the neck of the one she was fighting.

"What the fuck is going on in this place?" Faith asked as she and the others ran up to Tara.

"I don't know but let's get the hell out of here." she said as she turned back to the car.

Then they hear it. It's a sharp clicking sound. Nails on a cement floor. In the shadows, a dark shape moves. Then a low demonic growl permeates the air.

A Doberman suddenly advances into a shaft of light, from a overhead street lamp. But this is like no dog they've ever seen before. Its eyes are glazed. Its flesh decaying. Before they can go back to the car, the Doberman jumps on top of it.

As his wail of the damned sounds off again, five set's of glowing red eyes appear from the shadows. The extended Scooby gang then notice that they are slowly being surrounded by more dogs.

"Tara." Amy says.

"Run!" Tara shouts as the gang take off. The zombie dogs are in hot pursuit.

"There." Tara says as she points at the nearest building. It's a gunshop. As they make it to the building they all sigh with relief as they find it unlocked. As they all shuffle inside they close the doors.Moments later they heard pounding and almost instantly the door began to rattle on its hinges. They knew that they didn't have much time.

"Kendra, Xander help me move this bookshelf." Tara said as she moved closer to the tall, oak piece of furniture. As they move it in front of the door, Tara let's out a sigh of relief as their makeshift barrier holds.

"The door is locked solid, dare's no way dey can get in." Kendra informs them.

Faith smiles at this news and turns away, smack into another of the undead. It's the owner of the gun shop. Or what's left of him.

The undead owner lunges for her, but Faith is lightning fast, as though someone else had taken possession of her body. She weaves through his arm, lifts the sidearm from his holster and drills a bullet through his forehead.

The owner just looks up at her and then falls bonelessly to the floor.

(Angel did you see that?) Tara asked.

(Yeah, yeah I did.) he replied back.

(She moved so fast I could barely keep up with her movements. Do you think she's a Slayer?)

(No. Kendra didn't die so she doesn't have any powers. It was just her adrenaline pumping, that's all.)

Faith still stood there pointing her gun down at the dead gunshop owner.

"Was that a vampire?" Faith asked as Tara came closer and took the gun out of her trembling hand.

"No, that was a zombie." Tara replied as she looked over at Johnathon.

"Johnathon, you and Xander do a search of this place and see if you can come up with some more weapons." When she said this they moved into action.

After ten minutes of searching the pair turn up with three nine millimeters, with two clips for each, and a twelve gauge shotgun with twenty shells for it. Along with the battle axe, Xander had also managed to get two fighting daggers from the car as well.

"Okay me and Kendra are the most experienced fighters." Tara called out. "So we'll take the melee weapons." she said as she handed Kendra the battle axe, while she took the two fighting daggers.

"Xander since you have better upper body strength you take the shotgun. Everybody else grab a glock. Johnathon..." she said looking over at him. "Do you still remember anything from your night as soldier boy?"

"I...I remember everything." he said nervously.

"Alright if anybody doesn't know how to use a gun then get with soldier boy." she said as Faith pulled her to the side.

"Tara what the hell is going on here?" Faith asked. "Do you think the whole city is fucked up like this?"

"I don't know." Tara replied honestly. "Shouldn't you be practicing with Johnathon." as if to prove that she could handle a gun, Faith pulled the slide back on her weapon and the room echoed with it's audible click.

Before Tara could do more then smile they heard a loud bang at the big display window. They look up to see three zombies pressed against the glass of the display window. Their disintegrating and bloody faces smear the glass.

They clawed mindlessly at the window, their ashy, ravaged faces, spoke of the horrors of their deaths. And from across the street, dark shapes could be seen shambling out into the open.

"We've got to get out of here." Tara said as she backed away from the window.

"And go where?" Amy asked. "The moment we step out of here those things will eat us alive."

"The police station." Johnathon spoke up, making everyone look at him. "It's standard protocol for police stations to act as shelters in case of an outbreak ."

"Yeah but how are we going to get there?" Xander asked. "We don't know anything about this city."

"We know how to get there because I found a map of the city when we were searching for weapons."

"Alright." Tara said as she twirled her daggers around her fingers. "We head out the back and get out of here. Everyone stay close to each other."

With that said the pounding on the glass became louder and stronger. Almost as if the zombies could sense that their meals were going to escape.

"Okay everybody let's go." Tara said as she led the way to the back door.

It took the group more then twenty minutes to reach the police station. The city was like a virtual maze. They had to make a few detours however, because of the damaged parts of the city. They had to go through an infested basketball court, another alley, and a parked bus that had reeked from the sprawled corpses inside.

And the constant stopping to catch their breath didn't help either. With another boom from Xander's shotgun, Tara finally get's the entrance door to the police station open.

Only to see the barrel of a gun leveled at her face. Tara then looks up at the person holding the gun. Smart blue uniform, short brown hair, fresh faced. Not what she was expecting.

"I'm sorry." the officer says as he lowers his gun. "I thought you were some more of those freaks. Now come on and get inside." he said as he moved away from the door. The Scooby gang then walk in and close the heavy entrance door.

"You're a little young for a policeman aren't you?" Xander asked as he took a good look at him.

"I get that alot." the officer says as he holsters his gun.

They then look at the vast police station lobby they are in. There are three floors of classically styled architecture in oak and marble. There was a stone statue of a woman carrying a water pitcher in the lower part of the large room, a ramp on either side leading up to the receptionist's station.

The RPD seal set into the floor in front of the statue gleamed softly in the dim light from the wall lamps, as if it had just been polished. This room is a vast contrast to the devastation the rest of the city had suffered.

"So do you know what's going on, officer..." Tara said trying to read the man's badge.

"My name's Leon. Officer Leon S. Kennedy." the man said as he looked at them all in turn. "And believe it or not this is my first day on the job."

"Well I'm Tara. This is Amy, Kendra, Johnathon, Xander, and Faith." she said pointing to her friends as she called out their names. "Now what the hell happened to the city?"

"I don't know much." Leon said to her. "All I know is that this company called Umbrella is responsible for what happened. And from the letters I found,..." he said as he digged into the the backpack he was carrying. "the police chief Brian Irons was a co-conspirator."

"Forget about all that." Faith said to the rookie cop. "How the fuck are we going to get out of here?"

"Well I think I've found away out. According to the map I found there's a sewer exit that leads to the outskirts of the city. But there's a truck blocking my way through a certain door. If I could move the truck it should be smooth sailing from there.

Suddenly his walkie talkie blared with static. Taking it from his belt clip he began to talk into it.

"Claire is that you?" he asked. Then it blared with static again, until a woman's voice spoke into it.

"Yeah Leon it's me." Claire answered. "Listen I've found a survivor. It's a little girl."

"That's great." Leon said back to her. "I found some survivors too. Well they found me." he corrected himself. "Now where's your location?"

"I'm down in Sub- basement C and ...Oh my God!" Claire suddenly blared out.

"Claire what is it!" Leon yelled back.

"Sherry get behind me."

"Rrraaaahhhh!" something inhuman growled in the background, making the hair on the back of everyone's neck stand on end.

"Claire! Claire!" Leon yelled into the walkie talkie. But all he got back was static. "Damnit." Leon said as he threw the walkie talkie in frustration. Smashing it into a million pieces.

"Leon!" Tara yelled to get his attention. "Where is Sub-basement C?"

He quickly took the map out of backpack and looked at it. After a few seconds he located the spot on it.

"I hate to suggest this." Johnathon spoke up. "But I think our best course of action should be..."

"Don't say it man." Xander voiced.

"To split up." Johnathon finished his statement.

"Damnit man!" Xander growled.

"You totally just jinxed us." Faith said with a shake of her head. "Don't you watch horror movies? Whenever someone says "let's split up" somebody dies."

"I hate to admit it, but I think Johnathon is right." Tara said as she looked at them all in turn.

"Me, Officer Kennedy, and Amy will go and find Claire, everybody else go and secure a safe exit out of this place."

After giving them a map and some extra ammo he had gotten from the downstairs weapons storage, Leon dissappeared through a door on the right side of the building.

"Hey Tara, how are we going to contact each other?" Xander asked as he indicated the broken walkie talkie on the floor.

"Just trust me." Tara said with a little smirk. "You'll eventually know how to contact me." Xander just gave her a look and moved onto the other side of the room with his group. Just as Faith was about to walk out the door with the others, Tara called out to her.

"Faith." Tara calls. The raven haired beauty turns to look at her new friend. "Take care of yourself."

With that said they both went on opposite sides of the buildings. They were possibly seeing each other for the last time.

* * *

"So you guy's are from out of town?" Leon asked as they slowly jogged through the corridors. They had made it to Sub Level B and they only had another floor left. Even though they wanted to find Clarie they still wanted, to be cautious.

"No we're from Sunnydale California." Tara answered not looking up at him. Her vampiric senses were on high alert and she smelled blood somewhere close.

"You're a long way from home aren't you?" he asked.

"I came here to see a friend of mine. His name is Chris Redfield and he's with the S.T.A.R.S. unit. Have you heard of him?" Tara asked.

"Did you say Redfield?" Leon asked. Tara nodded. "He wouldn't happen to be related to a Claire Redfield would he?"

"Yeah that's his baby sister." Tara answered as she turned to look at him. She used to call Chris at least once a week and he would alway's tell her about his little sister Claire. From the way he spoke about her he loved her very much. "She's the one we're looking for?" she asked, only for him to nod.

As they turn a corner they stop abruptly when they encounter...

...Weapons, ammo belts, bits of shredded uniforms, and human body parts, strewn all through the hall. This was theremnants of what was obviously a feeding-frenzy and a few cops last battle..

"Holy... Goh... gaah..." Amy said as she starts to vomit. Leon moves beside her and starts to pat her on the back.

"This is the first time you've seen dead bodies like this isn't it?" he asks as she stops barfing.

"Yeah." Amy replied as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I've seen ton's of dead demon bodies, so you would think I wouldn't puke when I see a human's."

"Demons?" Leon asked with wide eyes.

"Long story." Amy said pulling a funny face as she looked over at Tara."Hey Tar' what are you doing?"

"We're going to need these weapons and ammo." she said as she picked up some clips for her gun out of a dead man's hand. "I can sense that the zombies aren't the only thing that's roaming around in here."

"You mean a thing like that." Amy asked as she pointed up. Following her line of vision Tara and Leon saw a strange four legged creature with no eyes and a grotesque long tongue clinging to the ceiling. Perhaps this was human once, but that was a long time ago.

As it started to move, the three foot long tongue swayed. Up close, the pink fleshy tongue is covered in a thousand tiny barbs. This monster is the stuff of nightmares. Really fucked up nightmares. The kind serial killers have.

"Oh crap." Tara said as the creature lunged at them.

TBC...

Please review...

A/N I'm sure you guy's knew that I was going to do a Resident Evil crossover. I mean I named a few of their main characters some chapters back.


	22. Chapter 21 Resident Evil Pt 2 The Escape

Chapter 21

Resident Evil Pt. 2

The Escape

"Man this is easy." Faith said as her group emerged out of the sewers and into a long corridor. They were making good time through the complex, after they moved the truck out of the way of the exit. They came across a few zombies, but by the mere number of their group they were easy to take down.

"That's easy for you to say." Johnathon said with a grimace. "You're not the one that had to figure out all of these wierd ass puzzles."

"Hey, I figured out most of dem." Kendra said with a pout. After reading a few journal's from the scientist's of the labs they knew not to touch to much of anything. Especially not the zombies. Or they might get infected.

"Hey guy's pipe down." Xander suddenly says as he stops.

"What is it X?" Faith asked.

"Shhhhh... just listen." he says as he cranes his neck to listen to something. The others follow suit. As one they all seem to hear a metallic sound. It's almost as if something metal is being dragged along the floor.

"What is that?" Faith asked no one in particular.

"I don't know but I think we should keep moving." Johnathon said as he opened one of the only two doors down the long and narrow hallway. As Xander and Kendra check out the other room, Faith and Johnathon go inside and see that they are in what looks like an office.

No longer pristine, it's wrecked, torn apart. Files are scattered everywhere along with smashed fragments of furniture and computer hardware.

In a corner of the room, with the back of the chair turned away from them, there's a man, in a lab coat, sitting at a desk, writing on a note pad.

"Hey." Johnathon says as he walks closer to him. What he doesn't see is that the man's hand is flaking and decomposing. The pen it holds is making only random, erratic marks.

"Hey." Johnathon says again to get the man's attention.

The man turns his head, slowly, to look up toward the voice. There's nothing left of his face. Raw tissue seeps odd- colored fluids. A single eyeball is nested tenuously in the ooze. Something like a mouth, recognizable only because of its position, opens... and groans.

"Oh shit!" Johnathon yelps as he jumps back as if he's been bit. Raising his glock, he fires off a shot, that makes a fist sized hole in the zombies head. As the little blood the zombie had left in it's head, splatters on the wall, the zombie falls over and dies.

"Come on Faith, let's get out of here and check on..."

With a lightning move, Faith draws her pistol and...Blam! Fires... at Johnathon. He flinches. The bullet flies past him and shatters the skull of another zombie doctor, that having stood up, was about to attack Johnathon from behind. The zombie doctor drops... dead again.

"T...thanks Faith." Johnathon stuttered out as he turns and looks at the blood-splattered body. "I owe you one."

"No prob soldier boy." Faith says with a smile. "Now let's see what Xand and Ken found." she says as she turns and walks out of the door, Johnathon hot on her heels.

As they go into the other room they see a room similar, but bigger then the one, they just came from. Only Kendra and Xander were just standing there feeling about on the wall.

"What are you guy's doing?" Faith asked. Only for Xander to jump a little.

"Damn Faith." Xander groaned as he turned around to look at her. "Don't do that."

"Oh, stop being such a baby." Faith teased. "So what are you guys doin'?" she asked again.

"It's another one of those damn, puzzles." Xander said as he took his hands off the wall.

"One dat doesn't make any sense." Kendra said as she turned to look at them. "So what did you two find in your room?"

"Some zombies." Johnathon answered.

"Well besides this damn puzzle me and Ken found some lab notes." Xander said as he took them out of his back pocket. "One of them is talking about some kind of man made diesease called the T-virus. The other one is a diary of a lab worker, that says Umbrella was responsible for what happened to this lab and I'm guessing the whole city."

"Let me see those?" Johnathon said as they moved to a desk to read over and discuss the documents.

"So what does the puzzle say?" Faith asked as she moved over to where Kendra was.

"Here read it." she says as she shows her the inscription on the wall. Faith looks at it for a minute then she reads it out in her mind.

'Whenever you're in peril the king and the queen shall light your way, as you descend into hell.'

"Hmmm...doesn't that just give you a warm feeling inside?" Faith quips as she looks over at Kendra.

"Xander seems to tink dat it means some kind of an emergency elevator." Kendra says as she turns to face her. "Just in case somethin' like dis happened."

As Faith looked around the room, she saw four candle holders, in the wall at the farthest end of the room. Walking over to them she saw numbers written over them. Taking a zeppo lighter out of her leather jacket pocket, she lights the two candles that have the highest number. As she does this, something behind the wall could be heard moving.

"Faith what did you do?" Xander asked as he, Johnathon and Kendra ran up to her.

"Finding our exit." she says as the wall suddenly goes up, revealing a elevator platform.

As they slowly walk in, Johnathon pushes the button that says "down" and the platform begins to sink beneath the ground. Faith watches amazed as the floor they are sitting on slips gracefully beneath the earth. Ancient wood paneled walls are being replaced with polished high tech steel plates.

The platform carrying Faith and the Scoobies comes to rest in a vast underground cavern. This is a natural creation, but the hand of man is everywhere. As well as the hydraulics for the platform, there are also several temporary structures used for storage.

A set of runway lights are laid out on the stone floor. They lead to a pair of thick steel doors set in the cavern walls. The doors bear the logo of the UMBRELLA CORPORATION.

As they walk out of the elevator platform, they stay side by side, jacked up on adrenaline. They're ready for anything.

"Everybody stay close." Xander calls out.

Faith shoots him a look. That's one major piece of unneeded advice. Johnathon takes the lead as they head through the giant room. But the deeper they go, the greater the sense of unease.

Walking up to the steel door Johnathon, reads the journal to get the code for the door. After reading what it is he punches in an access code - 667 - and a heavy steel door slides away to reveal a vast room filled with specimen tanks. The tanks are made of circular plexi and reach from floor to ceiling. There are literally hundreds of them, and with no clear way through the room, they form a grotesque kind of maze.

Each tank is filled with a viscous liquid and some new exciting monstrosity. Animals spliced together. Skeletons that look barely human. Some that clearly aren't.

Bioengineering run amok.

The labyrinth of horror, looks even worse by the dim glow of the emergency lights.

"What the fuck happened in this place?" Faith asked as she looked around. "This is some night of the living dead type shit."

Suddenly there's a flash of movement. A glimpse of something hideous, seen through the curved glass of the specimen jars. Was it just a trick, a distortion of the glass, or is there something else in here with them?

Unease suddenly becomes dread.

The shuffle of feet then could be heard. And a low moaning noise. Almost human. Almost.

"What is dat?" Kendra asks.

Faith and Johnathon share a look. This is the same noise they had heard upstairs. Only now it's closer. Now it's in the room with them.

"I don't know what it is but I'm getting the fuck out of here." Faith says as she sprints ahead, straight into a figure in a lab coat. A woman. Her tongue is swollen and bloated. Her death was painful and slow. You can see it in what's left of her face.

THE UNDEAD HAVE ARRIVED.

Faith screams as the undead woman hinges onto her. The woman's actions are slow and jerky, but Faith is caught by surprise and knocked to the ground. She struggles to get up, but the weight of the Undead Woman keeps her pinned to the floor. She then hear's the sound of gunfire around her.

Faith looks into the Woman's dead eyes, which stare straight back at her. There's no life left here, but there is something else. A terrible, terrible hunger.

Kendra kicks the woman off. She rolls over and begins to get up. Broken ribs mean nothing. Pain means nothing.

Kendra empties a round into her chest. Then another, then another. Still the Woman advances. Bullets mean nothing. The 9mm clicks dry. Empty.

Johnathon moves to help when two more undead loom behind him. One grabs his arms, the other his hair. He struggles to break free, but can't.

"Help me!" Johnathon shouts out. But Xander can't hear over the boom of his own gunfire. He's blasting away at the rising tide of undead.

Faith sits with her back against one of the tanks. In a state of shock. Traumatized. Her earlier enthusiasm gone, because she can see in her minds eye, the death's of her and her new friends.

Because of her fear she doesn't see a figure moving behind the tank, circling towards her. Its monstrous face distorted even more by the coned Plexiglas.

Kendra struggles with the Undead Woman, trying to hold her off. To keep her teeth from her throat. Using her Slayer strength, Kendra grabs her by the head and twists. The woman's neck snaps with a hollow crack and she falls to the ground. Unmoving. She then put's another clip in her gun and moves over to help Johnathon.

The figure behind Faith walks closer behind her. She's still unaware of the danger. It's a zombie scientist. A fire axe dangles uselessly from his right hand. His face is bloated and swollen from what looks like him being drowned. Death by drowning always looks bad. Especially when the bodies start to walk around.

He reaches for Faith. His fingers are mere inches from her skin.

Two more Undead have surrounded Johnathon. The four of them have wrestled him to the ground and are about to bite down on him when.

One of the undead creature's looks up in surprise as Kendra blows the back of its head off. Surprisingly, there's very little blood. Inside, the creatures are dry, withered husks. As she kills the rest of them, she helps Johnathon to his feet.

A scream brings her attention back to Faith. The Undead sceintist has a hand on her throat. He drops the fire axe and secures his other hand around her wind pipe. Kendra carefully takes aim. The head of the sceintist is in her sights then she squeezes.

Click. Empty.

Faith is slammed against the plexi tank. The last of her breath leaving her body. She's passing out. She feels the zombies saliva on her face. It's rank and fetid. Faith is choking. dying.

BAM! The Zombies head is suddenly pinned against the Plexiglas by the fire axe, it had dropped earlier. The axe has gone clear through his skull, in one ear and out the other. His hands drop away from Faith throat, but the zombies body remains standing. His head pinned to the specimen tank.

Looking up at her savior she see's that it's Xander.

"Come on we have to get out of here. There's more of them on the way." he says as he fires off another round from his shotgun.

The Scoobies race for an exit. They can't go back the way they came because behind them, a dozen Undead are slowly following.

As they come up to another elevator door, Johnathon reads the journal and tries to type the entry code in. The sound of Xander and Kendra's gunfire is deafening.

"What's taking so long?" Xander asked, as he and Kendra try their best to hold the zombies at bay.

"I'm trying." Johnathon informs him. His hands are shaking so hard, he can't hit the keys.

"Out of the way soldier boy." Faith says as she pushes him aside. "What's the code?"

"6634." Johnathon replied, visibly shaken.

"See how easy that was?" Faith asked as she punches in the code. The door slides smoothly open to reveal...A DOZEN UNDEAD! Their hands reaching for Faith. Grabbing her, dragging her into the dark void beyond.

"No!" Faith yells out. "JL, help me!"

Johnathon is frozen with fear and can't move.Suddenly other hands reach for her and try to drag her away from the undead. It's Kendra and Xander. Playing tug of war with the undead, and Faith is the rope.

But it's hopeless and Faith is dragged deeper into the ravening horde.

"Oh my God!" Faith yells as she feels the drool from an undead on her shoulder. "Please help me!" she says never taking her eyes off of Johnathon.

Her pleading eye's were enough to snap, Johnathon into attention. He runs forward, two guns in his hands, both blazing. Faith has almost disappeared under a mass of rotting undead limbs.

"Faith! No!" Johnathon plunges into the doorway after her. His hand grabs hers, and for a moment she holds on.

"J.L. ... don't let go! Please! Don't let go!" Faith yells out pleadingly. With strength he didn't know he possessed, Johnathon was able to pull Faith out of the grasps of the undead. But his action cost him dearly, because an undead lurched forward and bit his arm. Johnathon Levinson was now infected.

* * *

As Tara dodged a lunge from the eyeless beast, she fired a quick burst into it's chest. The bullet's seemingly have no effect, as it goes after Amy and Leon. Just as Leon took a shotgun out of his back holster, they hear the sound of a door opening.

Letting out a few blast's of his shotgun at the beast known as the licker, he chances a glance up and his eyes widen in surprise. There's a beautiful girl with long brown hair in a ponytail, wearing boot's and a dark pink rider's outfit on. It's Claire Redfield and she has a little girl with blonde hair, with her.

Lifting up a Sub-machine gun, Claire riddles the body of the licker until it's dark black blood splatters on the ground and it lays there motionless.

"You made it." Leon says as he steps around the very dead Licker and hugs Claire.

"Yeah." Claire said as she hugged him back. "And I got a little present with me too." she said as she looked back at the little girl.

"Hey there." Leon says as he walks up to her. "What's your name?"

"Sherry." the little girl answer's shyly.

"Who are these people?" Claire asked as she looked up and saw Tara and Amy.

"Oh sorry, Claire this is Tara Maclay and Amy Madison."

"Maclay?" Claire said. Recognition dawning. "Did you say Tara Maclay."

"Yeah Claire it's me." Tara said as the two quickly hugged. "How do you know me?"

"Oh please." Claire said dismissively. "The way my brother alway's talked about you, we're practically sisters. Now what are you doing here? I thought you lived in California?"

"I do. I just came by to visit, Chris."

"So this is like the vacation from hell for you then isn't it?" Claire asked.

"That's an understatement." Tara muttered. "Now where's Chris?"

"I have no idea." Claire said sadly. "Just like you, I came to town and found it like this."

"You don't think..."

"I don't want to think anything right now." Claire said cutting her off. "I just want to find my brother."

"Yeah." Tara said as she moved off from Claire. "Yeah Xander it's me." she stopped to listen again. "Yeah I'm doing this by telepathy. So did you guys find a way out. Okay...What! He's infected...I'm sorry I don't know of a cure."

"I might." Claire spoke up, looking at Tara strangely. She didn't see her talking into a phone, but she was clearly talking to somebody. "My people taught me medical techniques when I was younger. There's a plant that kills off infections. The only two problems are that the only plant's I saw like that are outside in the garden beside the police station and if it's not given to the person with the infection in time, it's useless."

"Did you hear that Xander, Johnathon's going to be okay. You haven't found a way out...Damn. Okay new plan." she said pulling out a map Leon had given her earlier. " Look at your map of the sewers. Go back the way you came and we'll meet you at the u-junction. Alright, I'll see you then."

"What was that all about?" Leon asked as he walked up to her.

"I'll tell you later." Tara said with a worried look. "You guy's go ahead on to the u-junction, I'll meet you there."

"I'm going with you." Leon told her.

"No." Tara replied. "I can take care of myself. Right now I just need you to get to the other's. They'll need your help, much more then I would."

"Okay." Leon said, strangely believing her. "Just be careful."

"Is it dead?" Amy suddenly asked, not daring to get closer to the licker.

"It looks that way to me." Claire says as she pokes it with her gun.

"Incente!" Tara shouted as a jet of flame came out of her hand. The strange creature let out a squeal as it burned and melted into goo. "It's dead now. Now come on let's move."

* * *

With a boom from Xander's shotgun, he made the zombie fly back into the other one's. As he and Kendra managed to close the elevator doors, Faith examined Johnathon's arm.

"Johnno I'm sorry man. Are you okay?" Faith asked.

"Hey I'm okay." Johnathon said even though he knew it wasn't true. "I owed you one remember?"

"Damnit, JL don't play like this!" she shouted. "You know that you're infected."

"Yeah." he said quietly as he hung his head low.

"Damnit, where's Tara and the other's?" Xander asked no one in particular. "Tara?" he asked hearing her voice in his mind. "Yeah how did you...oh telepathy. No we haven't found a way out. If anything this place is leading us further down. But listen though, Johnathon has been infected. He saved Faith but, one of those things bit him, do you know of a cure?" he asked hopefully.

"Okay, good...good, I'll look at the map now. Okay seeya."

"What did she say?" Kendra asked as she walked up to him.

"She said she want's us to go back into the sewers. She's going to meet us at a u-junction with Johnathon's cure."

"You make it sound like I have Cancer." Johnathon said as he walked up to him.

"Johnathon, now's not the time to make jokes." Xander said, feeling strange for saying that at all. He himself alway's laughed and made jokes in the face of danger but this was different. For the first time in a long time he actually felt as though he would die. "Now come on let's get you to the u-junction." he said as he grabbed his arm.

"I can walk by myself." he said as he jerked his arm free and walked off. Xander, Kendra, and Faith stared after him sadly and then follow.

Twenty minutes later

A deserted hallway. Nothing moves, but still we hear something. A low scratching noise. Like rats running behind the wall. Without warning, there is the muffled burst of automatic gunfire and a section of the roof collapses. Pipes and plaster fall to the floor, followed by Kendra and Faith. Xander brings up the rear, propping up a near dead Johnathon.

"We're almost to de U-junction." Kendra says as she looks around, getting her bearings. The more they walked Johnathon seemed to be getting worse.

"Go...good." Johnathon croaks out, while he sweats perfusely. 'Because you guys are starting to smell so tasty.' he thought to himself.

"How much further?" Xander asks.

"According to de map, it should be another fifty yards." Kendra says as she hears a noise. Before she could alert her friends to the danger that might be in the room, a large tongue comes down and slaps her on the chest. The force of the blow sent her flying back into a wall, where she fell unconcious.

Xander looks up to the ceiling. Hanging there is a licker.

Four claw like talons dig into the rock face, holding it in place. Its long fleshy tongue uncoils, snaking down towards its prey. We see the razor sharp barbs that cover the tongue's grotesque length.

Xander races forward, but is sideswiped by the creatures tongue. He is flung through the air and crashes in a heap, up against a wall. And just like Kendra, he lies still, like a broken doll.

The creature's mouth opens to reveal row upon row of teeth. This thing is built to kill.

It rears triumphant above Faith, who is shooting desperately at it. It's tongue suddenly retracts, leaving the Licker free to feast upon her.

As it's about to jump down on her...Bam! A boom of a shotgun sounds off in the room. It's bullet hit's the Licker square in the middle of the forehead. As it falls to the floor, machine gun fire could be heard. Letting out a wail, from being riddled with bullets, the beast falls over and dies.

As Faith looks up, she see's Leon, Amy, a little girl, and a woman with long brown hair, holding a smoking automatic machine gun.

"It's about time you guy's got here." Faith says as she stands to her feet.

"Yeah it's nice to meet you too." Claire says as she walks fully into the room.

"What hit me?" Kendra asked as she stood to her feet and looked around. "What's going on?"

"Nothing we can't handle." Leon informs her. "Now come on we have to...oh man." he says as he takes a look at Johnathon. His skin is deathly pale and his face takes on a ashen grey color.

"I'll be alright." Johnathon said as he stood to his feet.

"Alright." Leon said with a grim look on his face. He knew if Tara didn't get here soon, that her friend was going to become one of the undead. "Let's just get to the U- junction then." he said as Kendra revived Xander.

* * *

Tara spun around and emptied an entire clip into the monster chasing her, before she took off again. She had found the plant that Claire was talking about and quickly turned it into a liquid form. After that she went back into the police station and that's when the fun started.

She shot down the corridor at top speed, dodging here or there to avoid the corpses that were reaching for her with skeletal fingers. She heard a monstrous roar behind her and quickened her pace. Using her Dragon Guanlet's for extra speed, she pushed herself to the limit in order to escape the beast pursuing her.

What she didn't know was that it was actually Sherry's father, or what was left of him. He was the creator of the T-virus and, he used it upon himself to escape death from the hands of the Umbrella agents that had tried to kill him.

He stood over 7 feet tall, bristling with muscles. One of its appendages was long and dragged the floor, while the other sported 3-foot retractable claws. A large, bulbous muscle that could only be its heart lay on the outside of his chest wrapped around his head. His cold, emotionless eyes seemed to stare right through you.

Tara turned the corner and saw a sight that actually brought a smile to her face "The sewer access." The creature, which had been gaining on her, shot its claws out toward's her in a sweeping blow.

Sensing the attack, Tara dodged to the side and hurled herself through the doorway even as she emptied another clip into the hulking beast. She hit the ground rolling and rose to her feet. She quickly slammed the heavy steel door in the creature's face and slid the bolt home. Turning she ran off to meet the other's at the U-Junction.

* * *

The Scoobies and Leon's group run down the corridor of the U-Junction. Shapes appear at the far end. ZOMBIES! Twenty. Thirty. Forty. More. Suddenly near the door where they came in at, more zombies shuffle into the room. They are surrounded on both sides. The walking remains of humans who were infected in the labs, crawling over each other, hungry for living flesh.

Claire, Faith, and Amy fire into the crowd on the left of them. While Xander, Johnathon, and Leon fire into the group on the right of them.

The zombies start shuffling towards Xander. There are three of them. Xander shoots at the one in front. Misses. His second shot hits the thing's brain. One zombie is dangerously close. Xander fires two more rounds. No head shot, but the zombie staggers and, though not dead, falls...directly toward Leon.

The rookie rolls on his back, kicking himself away, managing to get clear. He uses his own pistol to blast the zombie.

"We are so fucked." Xander stage whisper's to Leon over the blast of their gun's.

"You said that already." Leon replies back.

"Well now I really mean it."

The undead are everywhere. Leon, Xander and the bloodied Johnathon keep firing, but nothing can hold back the tide.

The slide on Johnathon's automatic racks back and stays there. He's out of ammo. Johnathon struggles to load another clip, but his injured hand and arm makes it difficult. He fumbles and drops the spare mag. He stoops to retrieve it.

Xander looks around. A sea of undead faces. It's hopeless. Then suddenly a miracle. The dead sea parts as Tara carves her way through it. She ducks, she kicks, she weaves, she rolls. And everywhere she goes, things die.

Tara's sudden arrival has thrown the undead into confusion, but it won't last long.

"Here Johnathon, drink this." Tara says as she practically pushes the vial of green liquid down his throat.

"Tara how the hell are we going to get out of here?" Xander asks, as he starts back shooting at the undead. Tara quickly scans the room and see's wave after wave of zombies from both direction's.

Looking to the wall she saw a red button, that led to a red escape ladder. Quickly pushing the button a fire escape like ladder telescopes down. Looking up she see's a manhole cover.

"Kendra, help Johnathon get up the ladder." Tara told her. "Everybody else start climbing."

"What about you?" Claire asked as she walked up beside her. Kendra was already climbing up with Johnathon on her back, followed by Amy and Faith. Xander and Leon mowed down another wave of Zombies so Tara could have some space.

"Don't worry about me." Tara said as she smiled at her. "Just get everybody out of here."

"Trust me Claire." Xander said as he grabbed her arm. "Tara know's what she's doing, now come on." he said as he climbed up the ladder, followed by Leon and Sherry. Her and Tara made sisterly eye contact. Claire gave Tara one last look and then climbed up the ladder.

As they got to the surface, a smile spreads on all of their faces as they see...

"Tara's car?" Xander asks as he runs up to it and starts it up. The car is, for their sakes intact. Everybody then piles into the convertible, as they see that the coast is clear. They are all cramped in the vehicle but it's better then nothing. All eye's are on the manhole however, as they wait for Tara.

* * *

Putting her arms out on either side of her body, Tara willed power into her hands, as her Dragon Guaunlet's appeared. She concentrated all her power and energy into her chest. She could feel it welling up inside her as if it was willing her to release it.

She started to focus on the zombies and instantly sweat drew up onto her forehead. Her chest began to feel like it was on fire because she was trying to draw more power then she'd ever done yet.

"Kah…me…ha…me…HA!" Tara yelled out as blue and red fire erupted out of her hands. The fire engulfed the zombies on both sides and their wails could be heard all through the early morning.

* * *

"Dragonball Z?" Xander asks as he helps Tara out of the manhole.

"Hey it saved our ass didn't it?" Tara asked as she got in the driver's seat. "Now let's get the hell out of here." she said as she started to drive out of the city. As they get a few miles out of the city they hear a loud explosion.

Looking back they see a large mushroom cloud looming above the, morning sky.

Two day's later

After dropping Claire, Leon, and Sherry off at the nearest town, the Scooby Gang get some rest at a hotel. They had given Leon all of the document's they had found, so he could put them to use. Giving them a little money and getting Claire's contact number, the group quickly left town. After checking Johnathon into a hospital, they found that the plant worked and that he was okay. As he checked out of the hospital, the group got back on the road.

"So where are we going now?" Faith asked as they got on the highway. Tara sat there and thought about that for a moment. That was until Angel whispered something into her mind, instantly putting a smile on her face.

"Somewhere over the rainbow." Tara replied as she turned and looked at them. Everybody looked at her strangely and then shrugged. Although they silently wondered what new adventure they would embark on.

TBC...

Please review...

A/N to Darklight I did think to give Faith some powers now, but I only want to crossover with other peoples universe's a little bit. But believe me when she does get the power I plan on her to have it's going to be very emotional for Tara and the rest of the Scooby Gang. She's also going to help steal, part of Angel's destiny. Stay tuned to much later in the fanfic and you'll see what I mean.

Also as far as what Tara thinks of Faith, moving fast Angel and Tara just thought that maybe some of her dormant Slayer powers are awakening. She is supposed to be the Slayer after all. Faith also want be sharing Giles. I plan on giving her another Watcher, instead of the one intended. Also I put the dragonball Z attack called the Kamehameha wave in because I just wanted to have fun. I hope you guy's like this chapter.

And try to guess what Tara meant by, their going over the rainbow. Also about the comment Claire made about her people. Well I've been a fan of resident evil for a long time and I'm just now finding out that Claire and Chris were of native american descent. I also planned for their to be a bigger battle scene with Sherry's father, but it was taking so long to put the battle scene together, so I decided to end it like this.


	23. Chapter 22 Over the Rainbow

A/N thanks for the reviews. To Bakaman no I'm not going to pair Faith and Tara together. Faith however will be involved with someone else though. If I decide to get Tara a girlfriend it's probably going to be someone not known to the buffy and angel verse. It'll be someone of my own creation. It's also nice to have you back. What was your favorite chapter so far and I'm glad to see that you're still enjoying my story.

Also thanks to my newest reviewer bob the blue and you were right. They are going to Pylea and be prepared for some new players at the end of this chapter.

Also to Darklight, I hope you don't think my idea for Faith sucks. You'll see what I mean later on in the fanfic. anyway on with the newest chapter.

Chapter 22

Over the Rainbow

Everyone was pleasantly surprised when, Over the rainbow led back to California. Actually L.A. to be more exact. As Tara was busy checking everyone into a hotel, Faith took Johnathon to the side so they could talk privately.

"What's up?" Johnathon asked as he looked nervously at Faith. Something about the way she was looking at him, was troubling.

"I just really never got a chance to thank you for saving me in Raccoon." Faith said with a soft smile.

"Don't mention it." Johnathon said meeting her gaze. "Like I said I owed you one, for saving my life."

"Yeah, some big hero I was." Faith said as she dropped her smile. "I almost pissed my pant's, when those things came after us."

"Are we talking about the same person?" Johnathon asked as he stepped closer to her. "Because what I saw was a beautiful girl, who saved my life and tried to help her friends."

"So you think, I'm beautiful?" Faith asked as she got closer to him. They were now only inches apart. As Faith leaned down to kiss him, Johnathon suddenly pulled back.

"Faith it's not like I mind, but what are you doing?" Johnathon asked.

"I'm trying to thank you for saving my life." Faith said with a look of confusion on her face. "What you don't want me?" she asked. Faith looked genuinely hurt.

"Faith it's not like that." Johnathon told her as he held her hand. "We're friends."

"Whatever." Faith said as she jerked her hand free and turned her back to him.

"No not whatever." Johnathon said as he grabbed her by the shoulders and made her look at him. "I care a hell of alot about you Faith."

"Then why don't you want me?" she asked.

"Because you mean more to me then just some easy screw. Faith what do you see when you look into the mirror? Because I'll tell you what I see." He said as he let go of her arm. "I see a beautiful, smart, and funny girl. I can see all of that and I haven't even known you long. I don't know who hurt you this much for you to think that you're some kind of slut, but you're not." He let that sink into her head before he spoke again.

"You're my friend Faith and yeah you're real beautiful, but any guy that just want's to screw you, isn't worthy of you. A guy should get to know who the real Faith is and then one day when the time is right, make love to you."

As he was saying this Faith, started to form tears in her eyes. Almost every guy that she'd been around alway's just wanted her for sex. They never wanted to just get to know her. But every since she had met Tara and her friends, she finally felt a sense of belonging and she had guy's around her that really cared about her.

"You aren't just saying this because you like Ken are you?" Faith questioned with a smile. Johnathon just lowered his gaze and blushed. Faith had alway's seen the way, Johnathon would just stare at Kendra. She often wondered why the two wouldn't just hookup, but now she knew. Johnathon was a gentleman all the way.

"Even if I do like Kendra, I still meant every word I said." Johnathon assured her.

"Hey I got the room's." Tara said as she turned the corner. "You guy's coming or what?"

"Yeah, we're coming." Faith said as her and Johnathon shared a look. With what Johnathon told her ringing in her head, the both of them followed Tara up to their rooms.

* * *

"I want to talk about what happened in Raccoon." Tara said to the others as she sat down on her hotel bed. "Since we're in L.A. I think I should just take you guys back to Sunnydale. Following me is just too dangerous."

"Too dangerous?" Xander asked in disbelief. "Tara living in Sunnydale is dangerous too. We risk our lives there everyday."

"Beside's where am I going to go, if you leave?" Faith asked.

"I can talk to Giles. Maybe you can live with him, until after the summer."

"Tara listen." Amy spoke up for the first time. "We knew that we would probably get into some trouble, when we first started this trip. We promised each other that we would see this through to the end."

"You're not going to get rid of us dat easily." Kendra informed her.

"Alright." Tara said as she smiled at her friends. If anything they were loyal.

"So what do you guy's want to do now?" Johnathon asked.

"I say we hit the clubs." Faith said as she stood to her feet.

"We can do that later tonight." Tara said as she grabbed her duster. "Come on, I'm going to take you guy's to meet a friend of mine that I have in town, first."

Hyperion Hotel

"Man this place looks creepy." Amy said as they pulled up at the old hotel.

"You'll like it, when you see the inside." Tara said as she stepped out of her car.

"I'm with Amy on this one." Xander said as she saw the shadows casting off of the old building. "I just feel like somebodies gonna jump out at us." he said as she opened the door and three spears were held against his neck. "I rest my case." he said as she looked back at Tara.

"Hey guy's he's with me." Tara said as she stepped through the door.

"Hey T." one of the teen's said as they lowered the spears. "You looking for Gunn?"

"Alway's." Tara said with a smile as Faith, Kendra, and Amy stepped through the door.

"Damn T." another one of the teen's called out. "Who are all of these hot babe's?"

As he said this the girls start to blush.

"You must really be an Angel?" another one of the boy's asked. "Because you just answered my prayer's." he said as he leered at Faith.

"Why don't you guy's stay here and mingle." Tara said as she walked past them and into the foyer. Gunn had really fixed up the place. It was really starting to look like the old Hyperion hotel.

"Hey girl." Gunn called out. Snapping Tara out of her musing's.

"Hey yourself." Tara said as the two hugged.

"Not that I mind the visit, but what are you doing here?" Gunn asked.

"I'm here to find a friend of mine. So I decided to drop by and visit."

"That's cool."

"So where's Alonna?" Tara asked as she took a look around.

"I sent her upstate to live with my Aunt. That way she can get back in school and..."

"Get away from the doom and gloom."

"Exactly." Gunn said with a smirk.

"Speaking of doom and gloom, you guy's have really fixed this place up."

"Yeah, from the money you and the Council gave us, we were able to do this." Gunn said as he waved his hand about the hotel. "And speaking of fixing the place up, I have a surprise for you."

"Oh really?" Tara asked as they started to walk up the stair's. Tara was mildly surprised when Gunn led her to Angel's old room.

"Wait." Gunn said as he stepped in front of her. "Close your eye's."

"Gunn..."

"Come on girl. I said it was a surprise." With that Tara closed her eye's tight. As Gunn opened the door he led her inside. "Okay open them." he told her. As she did, the biggest smile Tara ever had spread on her face.

The room looked simply amazing. The walls had beige wallpaper with little baby cherub's playing together on it. There was a queen sized bed, with pictures of Angel's lining on the quilt. There was also a little teddy bear sitting on the pillow of the bed, that had little white Angel wings on it's back.

"This was the first room that me and the guy's fixed up. Alonna had the idea of making it your room, for when you visit, so one thing led to another and we decorated the room like this for you." Gunn said as he walked up beside her. "I hope you like it?"

"Like it." Tara said as she turned around and looked at him. "I love it." she said as she gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Gunn looked deep into her eye's and slowly pulled her into a kiss. It was a deep and passionate kiss. A kiss that Tara seemed to be into, until she suddenly pulled away.

"I'm sorry." Gunn told her with wide eyes. "I thought..."

"It's okay." Tara said in a low voice. "It's not like I didn't enjoy it or anything. It's just that I have a mission to complete. I can't..."

"You don't have to say nothing else." Gunn said a little dissappointed. "I gotcha." he said as he turned to leave. But then Tara grabbed his arm.

"Maybe after my mission is over, then we can talk." Tara said with a smile. Gunn caressed her hair and then her cheek with his thumb. With a hopeful smile on his face, he walked to the door.

"Oh and Gunn." Tara called out. "Tell my friends, I'll be down in a little while. I just want to get comfortable in my room first." With that Gunn left the room and Tara sat heavily on her bed.

(I think Gunn would be the perfect person for you to date.) Angel whispered into her mind. ( I never wanted for my mission to interfere with your happiness. Why did you tell him that anyway?)

(B...because...I...I think I'm gay) Tara stuttered for the first time in nearly a year. Angel was floored by this news.

(You think you're what?) Angel asked, with a cough. (Why do you say that?)

(Because I keep looking at girls.) Tara answered.

(That doesn't mean that you're gay.)

(And after I look at the girls, I keep imagining that their having sex with me.)

(Oh...) was all Angel could say.

(Y...you don't...th...think that I'm a freak now do you?) Tara asked worriedly.

(Of course not.) Angel replied kind of offended. (You're alway's going to be my girl.)

(Can I tell you something?) Tara asked after a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, as she sat back on her bed.

(Of course. You know you can tell me anything.) he replied.

(It's just that I've never been with a man before.)

(Yeah, where are you going with this?)

(Well if I'm going to be gay then, I really want to know the touch of a man, first.)

(Tara what are you asking me?)

(I'm asking you if you would make love to me.)

After about thirty minutes Tara emerged from her room and walked downstairs. When she got there, she saw her friends talking animately with Gunn and his group.

"Are you guy's ready to go?" Tara asked with a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah." Kendra said as she looked up at her. "What took you so long and why do you seem so happy?"

"It's nothing...I was just checking out my room and I took a little nap."

"You look like you're glowing." Johnathon said as he looked at her strangely.

"Well I'm not." Tara said defensively. "Thanks for the room." Tara said as she hugged Gunn.

"When I come back to town, I'll be sure to use it."

"You're leaving already?" Gunn asked.

"Yeah, after I get my friend I have to take her home."

"Alright, I'll see you later then."

"Bye Chuck!" Faith yelled as she walked out of the door.

"Bye Faith." Gunn said back as he waved to the others.

"So we're going clubbin' now right?" Faith asked as the Scoobies got into the car.

"After a little side trip to the library, yeah."

* * *

Faith was pissed when Tara took them to the so called "Club." The place was full of different kinds of demons. Pushing down the bile that rose in her throat, she watched as a green skinned demon with a yellow Armany suit, red eye's and horns approached their table.

"Welcome to Caritas. You know what that means?" The Host asked.

"It's Latin for mercy." Tara replied.

"Smart and cute. How about gracing us with a number?" The Host asked.

"Alright." Tara said with a huge smile. "Just give me and my friends a minute alone then?"

"Whatever you say sweetcheeks." he said as he walked off.

"Tara what kind of place did you bring us too?" Faith asked.

"Yeah I thought we were going to a club?" Xander asked.

"I must admit, dat I'm feeling a little uncomfortable." Kendra said as she looked at the various demons in the bar. "I'm de Slayer and I'm supposed to kill dese tings."

"Listen guy's, I got to admit that I brought you guy's here under false pretenses." Tara said as she looked at them all in turn. "But like I said I have to get a friend of mine."

"So get them so we can go." Johnathon told her. He had to admit it himself that he was feeling kinda bad about being in a room full of demon's.

"It's not that easy." Tara told him. "Fred's not in this dimension. Okay Lorne's coming back, Kendra when I get up there on stage, just make sure that he doesn't run."

"Are you ready, sweetcheeks?" Lorne asked.

"I was born ready." Tara replied as she got up on stage. After picking out a song, Lorne smiled and started to talk into the microphone.

"Hey everyone, we have a beautiful young woman, who will be singing for us, this is her first time, so lets give her a round of applause." He waited until the applause died down and walked off stage. Tara sat on a stool and waited for her selection to begin. She sang somewhere over the rainbow by Judy Garlend

As Tara first started to sing the song, Lorne began to fidget. He saw images of himself and other's doing heroic things. Things that he wouldn't have ever dreamed of him doing. But everything he saw was conflicting. It was like he was seeing an alternate future. As he was about to get up and leave the room, a dark skinned girl grabbed him and made him sit back down.

As Tara finished her song, she immediately got a round of applause from everyone. Ignoring that she walked up to where Lorne was and sat down.

"So you know who I am?" Tara asked as she tilted her head and stared hard at Lorne.

"I sure do Angelcakes." Lorne replied nervously.

"Then you know what I want?" she asked.

"Not in the strictest of sense, but I got the cliff notes."

"What I want you to do is call that friend of yours, so I can go to Pylea." Lorne almost turned a different shade of green when he heard of his home dimension. "Don't worry I'm not going to make you come."

"Oh thank God." Lorne said in relief. "But I have to ask, do you know what you're getting yourself into?"

"Yeah I got a bit of an idea." As they were talking the gang just looked at the two, as if they had grown an extra head.

"So what was going on back there?" Faith asked as they got back in Tara's car.

"A friend of mine was taken to another dimension, where they call people cows and treat them like slaves."

"Is this actually a friend that you know?" Xander asked. Tara just gave him a wide smile.

"Listen I can't make you guy's come with me. If you want you can go on to a club."

"No way." Amy said as she climbed into the backseat. "Like we said earlier there's no way you're getting rid of us."

"Yeah we were just dissappointed that we weren't going to a club." Johnathon informed her. "We're not going to abandon you now and we're definately not going to let you go and do something dangerous by yourself."

"Alright, Xander you drive." Tara said as she got in the passenger seat.

Twenty minute's later

"Here. Stop here." Tara told Xander. He stops the car.

"Here." Faith asked as she looked around. "Isn't this a movie studio?"

"This is where Lorne's friend said the hotspot is. I have it on good authority, that she's never wrong." Tara said as she looked back at her. "And Kendra, hold that book tight. It might be our only way to get back home."

"Right." Kendra said as she opened the book. "Here goes. - Krv Drpglr pwlz chkwrt strplmt dwghzn prqlrzn lffrmtplzt!"

They all stare as the portal begins to form in front of them.

"Everybody buckle up." Tara told them, after she switched places with Xander. After they all follow her advice Tara guns the car for the portal. As the car disappears into the swirly hole the book drops onto the street behind it, smoking ever so slightly.

Tara's convertible lands on the grassy ground between some trees on sunny Pylea, the screams of the passengers resonating through the air, then comes to a screeching halt.

"Is everybody okay?" Tara asked as she turned around and looked at her friends.

"If you call crapping my pant's okay, then yeah I'm okay." Xander said as he got out of the car, followed by Amy and Kendra.

"Thanks for the visual, Xan." Faith said as she stood beside Tara.

"Anytime." he replied with a lopsided grin.

"Alright listen guy's we don't have much time." Tara said as she moved to the trunk of the car. "Xander did you keep those gun's you had in Raccoon City?"

"Yeah I kept two shotgun's and a couple of glock's. Why?"

"Because for our part of the mission, we're going to need it." she replied as she told them her plan. Covering the car with tree branches and huge leaves, the crew leaves to handle their mission.

* * *

As Kendra and Faith keep walking through the forest, they see a clearing. Walking to it they enter a quaint, medieval looking village. Keeping low to avoid being seen, they approach a barn looking structure.

As they look in the open window, they see a cute, thin woman with long raven hair. She was wearing some ragged indigenous clothing, in a stable shoveling flehegna manure and talking to herself. As they were about to walk into the stable, a green figure emerged. Ducking back down they watched as he started to talk to the woman.

"Stupid cow!" the green demon yelled as he backhanded Fred on the face. "I thought I told you that I wanted this place ready before I came back?"

"Th...that's what you said." Fred said nervously as she began to shiver.

"Then I guess I'll have to make sure that you work faster." the demon said as he raised a whip. As he prepared to bring it down on Fred, a voice spoke from behind him.

"Hey asshole." Turning he was met with a fist to the face.

"Did you see what that prick did to her?" Faith asked from her position by the window.

"Yeah." Kendra said with a grim look.

"Well I'm going to do something about it." Faith said as she stood to her feet and sprinted off.

"Faith...Faith." Kendra whispered out to her as she stood and ran after her.

"Then I guess I'll have to make sure you work faster." Faith heard the demon say as she walked up behind him.

"Hey asshole!" Faith shouted out as she grabbed the demon's whip. As the demon turned she punched him in the face. Not having much of a effect on him, the Pylean rears back to punch Faith only for his head to leave his body.

As his now headless body falls to the ground it's revealed that Kendra is behind him, with a battle axe in hand.

"Faith how many times, have I told you neva' to rush into anything without a plan?" Kendra asked as she lowered her Axe.

"Only all the time." Faith replied with a smile. "Now come on, we have to get back to the car before some more of these things show up."

"Alright. Let's get Fred and... Where did she go?" Kendra asked as she looked around the room.

Fred runs through a wooded area, past a boulder. After tracking her Faith and Kendra slowly make their way along the boulder and into a cave. They find Fred, now wearing a pair of crooked glasses, busily adding to the carved symbols covering the walls of the cave.

"Hello?" Kendra said as she walked into the cave. Fred hesitates for a moment then continues to write.

"Hey, great place." Faith says sarcasticly as she looks around the cave.

"You don't have to be afraid of us . Really. We'd never hurt you?" Kendra say's. Fred glances back at them, then quickly turns back to her carving.

"So, ah... So, you don't wanna talk to me?" Faith asked.

"I can't?" Fred said quietly.

"Why won't you?" Kendra asked, after her and Faith shared a look. Tara knew the strangest people.

"Because - you two ain't real. Or I'm not real. Somebody here isn't real and I suspect it's you two. So if you're not real, that means that I was beaten to death back there and that I'm dead now. Dead. And with me being dead and you two not being real, I can hardly be expected to have some big conversation with you two at the moment, because it's just a little too much pressure, alright!" Fred babbled.

"Okay. Okay." Faith says as she holds her hands up and backs away. Fred nods and turns back to her writing.

"What's dat you're doing?" Kendra asks.

Fred looks up at the stuff covering the walls. Some of it looks like the words from the book that opened the portal, other stuff resembles mathematical formulas.

"Uhm, I think I saw it in a dream." Fred supposed.

"You've been here a long time." Kendra commented.

"Always. - Not always."

Faith spots something and picks it up. It's a California drivers license for one Winifred Burkle, living in Los Angeles, brown hair, 5'6", 114 pounds, expiration date 03-01-98.

"I had a dream. I had a name." Fred says as she turns around and smiles.

"Winifred." Faith says as she reads the license. Fred hurries over and pulls the license out of her hand.

"What?" Fred asked confused.

"Dey called you Fred. You were studying to be a physicist." Kendra said as she approached her.

"That's my dream." Fred said looking up at her.

"You disappeared from a library in Los Angeles two years ago." Faith said as she approached her.

"Stop it." Fred says as she shakes her head. It's as if the new ladies are reading her mind.

"It's not a dream, Fred." Kendra informs her.

"It's not?" Fred asked in a child like whisper.

"No."

"And my head's still on?"

"Yeah." Faith says as she gently pushes her glasses back up the bridge of her nose.

"You two are real?" Fred asked. Faith and Kendra smile and nod.

Fred's smile melts into a frown and she starts to shake her head as she moves a few steps away from the two.

"No. No, I don't want you to be real." Fred says frantically.

"Why?" Faith asked in confusion.

"Because!" Fred started as she turned back to face them. "You're nice, and you saved me. And bad things will happen to you here." she then shakes her head and looks down, twisting her fingers together "Bad things always happen here."

"No, no, no. Nothing bad's gonna happen." Faith informed her. "I-It's gonna be okay. We-we can take you out of here."

"We?"

"Yeah. Me and my friends. We have a way to get out of here. We can take you back."

"Can't get back. There is no back."

"No, dare is." Kendra cut in. "If we can open de portal..."

"The portal!" Fred shouted out as she grabbed Kendra by the shoulders. "Then you found the book?"

"Yes." Kendra said as she gently pushed Fred back. "Now come on, let's go. We have to get back to de car and wait for de others." With that Fred gathered her few meager possessions and walked out of the cave with her new friends.

Pylean Castle

A red-robed, red-faced demon named Silas is walking down a corridor. A priest hurries up behind him.

"My lord, rebels have breached the castle!" the demon priest informed him.

Xander, Amy, Johnathon, and Tara then run into the corridor.

"Hello Silas. Long time no see." Tara says as she raises her sword.

"How do you know my name, cow." Silas asked as he looked at her with a creul smile.

"I know alot of things. Like how you're going to free all of the human slaves on your world."

"Stupid cow." Silas said as he starts to back up. "I'll eat your insulant tongue on a silver platter by the end of this day." with that said Tara's group charge at Silas but are intercepted by some palace guards.

As they sword fight with the guards, Tara see's Silas slipping through another room.

"Guy's do you think, you can hold these guards on your own?" Tara asks as she looks back at Xander. Xander only nods. "Good because I'm going after Silas." Wading through the army of Pylean soldiers, Tara ran into the room that Silas was in.

"Okay where's the book?" Faith asked once they got back to the car.

"I thought you had it?" Kendra asked as she looked at Faith strangely.

"Oh crap." was all Faith could say.

As Tara enter's the room, she see's Silas by a huge console. As he pulls a cloth off the console, he lets his hand hover over the outline of a hand set with jewels in the middle of it.

"Do you know what this is, cow?" Silas asks as he stares hard at Tara.

"Yeah." Tara replied grimly.

"Then drop your sword or I'll kill every cow on this planet." As Tara was about to throw down her sword, a guard came into the room. Using it as a distraction, she tapped into her magical abilities and created an invicible force that flung Silas into a wall and away from the console.

Turning, Tara stabbed the guard in the chest and cut off his head. Moving over to the console, she quickly destroyed it with a fire attack.

Just as she was about to stab Silas, she heard Kendra whispering in her mind. Listening to what she's saying she doesn't sense the guard behind her. As he lifts the axe up to take off her head, a shot sounds out.

As Tara looks up, she see's Xander with a smoking twelve guage in his hands. Amy and Johnathon are right behind him.

"Watch your back." Xander said with a smirk as he came fully into the room.

"I don't have to watch it, because I know you'll alway's be there to do it for me." Tara said causing Xander to blush."What about the other guards?" Tara asked.

"Amy turned them into rats." Johnathon said with an amused grin. Amy just shrugged.

"You hear that Silas?" Tara said as she put the tip of her sword under his chin. "This little slavery camp is over."

"The Wolf, Ram, and the Hart will not allow this." Silas informed her.

"I'm sorry, but they kind of don't have a choice." Tara said as she leaned in close. "And FYI, I would leave the palace if I were you. You see I went to the rebel camp, before I came here and I told them what I was going to do." As if on cue, the sound of fighting could be heard in the halls. Along with the screams of the dying.

"Be seeing you Si." Tara said as she slapped the demon on the chest and walked away from him.

"What are you?" Silas asked as Tara and the others walked up to the door.

"I'm the Seraphim." Tara replied as she and the others kept walking, until they were out of sight.

* * *

"Man you guy's stink." Faith said as Johnathon, Amy, Tara, and Xander approached the car.

"We had to go through the sewer's to get into the palace." Johnathon informed her as he sat down beside them in the car. Both Kendra and Faith scrunched up their noses and inched away from him.

"Hello Fred." Tara said as she approached the very thin woman.

"Hi." Fred said with a worried smile. "H...how did you know my name?"

"I know alot about you, Fred." Tara said as she smiled at her and handed Kendra the spell book. "Now come on, let's get you home."

A slight wind tinkles the glasses in a deserted Caritas. The curtain behind the stage starts to billow. White spots of light appear and coalesce to form a portal. Tara's convertible comes barreling through with Tara, Xander and Amy in the front, Faith, Fred, Johnathon and Kendra in the back, all of them screaming. Tara manages to stop the car as it rams into the bar after crashing through the tables in front of the stage.

"Yo, that portal jumping is a fun ride." Faith said as she steps out of the car. "We sell it to a theme park we could get paid!"

"You know I've been thinking about remodeling the bar." Lorne said as he came in from the back room. "Who's up for a nightcap? That is after somebody showers." he said as Tara and the others smell came down wind.

"Lorne I don't know how much you know about me." Tara said as she approached him. "But..."

"I don't know much." Lorne told her. "Your mind is like none I've ever read. It's like you have two minds and the images I got just didn't make any sense."

"It's probably best if you couldn't get an accurate reading off of me." Tara said thanking God that he couldn't. "But one day I might need another favor from you."

"Hey as long as you grace me with another number, then feel free to ask me anything." he had to do another reading on her and soon. He had to know why he felt compelled to help her and why he himself was in her visions.

Day's Later

Texas

"Are-are you sure about that?" Fred was asking as they turned down a familiar street. Tara bought her some new clothes and stayed with her, once the guy's went out to party, when they were still in L.A. The two were getting pretty close. Luckily, Fred wasn't as crazy as when Angel had found her in his timeline. That's all because they had gotten to her, three years ahead of time.

"Trust me." Tara said with a smile. "Tacos everywhere - and - soap!"

As Tara stopped the car, Fred stopped her endless babbling. Looking up at a house she grew up in, she saw two people step out of the house and she immediately put a big smile on her face.

"Mom. Dad." she said not believing it. "This can't be real."

"Fred!" Mr. Burkle shouts out as he see's her.

"Dad?" Fred says as she steps out of the car.

"Winifred!" her mom shouts as she runs up to her and engulfs her in a hug. "We haven't heard from you in over two years. The police said that you were missing...we looked... My God where have you been?"

"Mom." was all Fred was able to say, as she fell weakly into the embrace of her parents. Looking up from hugging his daughter, Mr. Burkle saw a group of teens in a black convertible watching them with interest. Steping away from his family, he slowly approaches them.

"I don't know who you folks are, but thank you for bringing me my little girl." he said with tears in his eyes.

"It's not a problem Mr. Burkle." Tara said as she looked up at him. "We're from a detective agency called Angel Investigations. It was a pleasure to bring Fred back to you."

"I don't know how to repay you."

"Just take care of Fred. She's been through alot and she's fragile right now. Just promise me that you'll take care of her and your debt to us is repaid."

"You have my word." he vowed. "Did you get the folks that kidnapped her?"

"Yes sir, they've been taken care of."

"Well why don't you folks come on in. We were just about to barbeque and we'd love to have you."

"I'm sorry sir, but we're on a tight schedule."

"I understand. Well goodbye then." he said as he went back to his wife and daughter.

"Goodbye Fred, take care of yourself." Tara said as she and the other's drove off. The Burkles stood their and waved until, Tara's car was out of sight.

(Angel are you sure that Fred shouldn't have stayed with us?) Tara asked after a few minute's of driving.

(Yeah, I'm sure. Being with her family is probably the best thing for her) Angel replied. He had brought Fred nothing but misery every since he brought her from Pylea. He should have immediately took her to her parents in the original time line. He had alway's felt guilty that he didn't do that. And it almost killed him to just watch her fade away when Illyria possessed her body. It was almost like losing a little sister.

"Tar'!" Faith shouted out. Dropping out of her mental conversation, Tara looked back at her friends, only to find them all staring at her.

"What?" Tara asked.

"You kind of spaced out on us there, are you okay?" Johnathon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, now what did you ask me?"

"We asked, where are we going next?"

"Well I promised Kendra on the beginning of this trip that I was going to help her train." Tara said as she made a turn and got on the interstate. "But with all of this craziness, we haven't been able to do that right?"

"Right." Kendra simply stated.

"Well I was just thinking, instead of me training you, why not just get my master to do it."

"I tink dat would be a great idea." Kendra replied happily.

"New Mexico it is." Tara replied.

Wolfram & Hart Building

L.A.

Sametime

A man in his late fourties, is sitting in a plush chair, talking animately with two fresh faced lawyers. His name is Holland Manners. As he reclines back in his seat and laughs at one of his new lawyer's jokes, a thin man suddenly enters the room panting heavily.

"Mr. Manners..." the man said in between gasps.

"Don't we knock anymore, Thomas?" Holland asked.

"I'm sorry sir, but we have trouble."

"Well what is it?" Holland asked as he turns and looks at him.

"The Chamber of command in Pylea has been overturned sir. The human's are reported to have been seen, killing off their captives and are..."

"That's impossible." Holland interrupted. "The collars..."

"Have all been destroyed sir. And get this, our informants say that the person responsible for all of this is the Seraphim."

"The Seraphim?" Holland asked. The grapevine had been going nut's for months. All of them telling tale after tale of an Angel walking the earth. "Well it seems that this meeting is over." Holland said as he turned back around to his newest employee's.

"Thomas do you mind taking our newest lawyer team to the research room? I would like them to research everything we have on the Seraphim and where it might be located."

"Yes sir." Thomas said as the newest lawyer's stood to their feet.

"Oh where are my manners." Holland said as he turned to look at them. "Lilah, Lindsey welcome to Wolfram & Hart."

A/N I was going to introduce a new power that Tara has called the Dreamscape. It's when Tara goes into a dream like state and she can visibly see and touch Angel. It's sort of like a parralell universe or a meeting place for the both of them. But because of the NC-17 rule I skipped their love scene. And I know what you're all thinking, but I was planning on Tara and Angel making love much later in the fanfic and then she was going to start a relationship with a girl. But because I'm cutting the fanfic shorter than expected, I decided to do it now. That's also why I'm doing so many crossover's.

I'm also going to do a Spike interlude in the next chapter. And there's going to be a special guest star too. Oh and Lorne wasn't able to read her fully. He just got bit's and pieces of what her destiny held for her.

TBC...

Please review...


	24. Chapter 23 Nibblet

A/N thanks for the review ookamimaster. It's alway's exciting to get a new reviewer. And believe it or not, but you're the third person to tell me that I inspired them to write something. I'm real honored to hear that. Now what were your favorite chapter's and if you like this story then read another one of my stories called The Hunter.

Now for a little back history on this story inparticular. When I originally wrote it I was planning on it being Wesley's soul going into Tara instead of Angel. But I like the way it turned out this way instead. As I got deep into this story I was going to rewrite it and have it being either Wesley or Angel going into Faith's body instead of Tara's. anyway on with the next chapter.

Chapter 23

Nibblet

Undisclosed time L.A.

The vision's Spike was having only seemed to get worse, since he left Sunnydale. In fact most of his victim's would get away because when he was trying to feed, he would have very...very powerful and painful visions. And because of that for the last month, he was forced to go to a butchers and drink pigs blood. Or he would have to pay for blood at a demon bar. But after drinking it he would feel a sense of guilt over it being human's blood. To top it all off he never found Dru, after they fell into the murky water in Sunnydale. It was like she just dissappeared off the face of the earth.

Losing his woman and quite possibly his mind, he did what every man would do in that situation. He went to the nearest bar and got smashed. As Spike finishes his drink, he sets the glass on the table and reaches into his jeans to get money for another one. But before he can order, someone places a fresh drink on his table. Spike looks up to see a man standing in front of his table, staring at him and smiling.

"Sorry mate." Spike says as he pushes the man's drink away. "But you're not my type." with that said Spike put's some money on the bar, for another drink. As he looks up the man continues to look at him without leaving. "What are you gawking at?"

"You know... we really should talk." the short man say's with an irish accent.

"You know? Really not." Spike say's as he stands and gets up in the man's face. "I don't know what you're selling, but it's best if you piss off, if you know what's good for you." Spike says as he turns to walk away.

"Hey, Spike..." the man calls out. Spike stops walking, when he see's that the man knows his name. "Once upon a time there was a vampire. And he was one of the meanest vampires in all the land. All the other vampires were afraid of him, he was such a...bastard. Then one day he's cursed with visions by an Angel."

"Who the bloody 'ell are you?" Spike asks as he whirls on him. Then he angrily grabs the man's wrist, knocking the glass from the his hand, causing it to shatter on the floor. "And I don't want any of that cryptic shit butch. I want to know who...or what you are..." he said as he smelled the stench of demon on him. "what you want, and how fast I can snap your forearm before you answer."

"Easy, man." the Irish demon said as he tried to snacth his arm away. "My name is Doyle."

"Well Doyle, that's one of my questions that you've answered." Spike said as he let his arm go.

"Now what the 'ell do you want with me?"

"They told me to set you on your destiny." Doyle answered.

"They?" Spike asked with an arched eyebrow. "Who the 'ell are they?"

"Them." Doyle said as he pointed up to the sky.

"I thought I told you..." Spike said as he grabbed his arm again roughly. "...that I didn't want any of that cryptic shit? Now them who?"

"The...the Powers that be." Doyle struggled out.

"The Powers that be, what?" Spike asked.

"It's God or whatever manevolent force you choose to believe in."

"Right." Spike says with a sarcastic tone. "God want's me to be a good guy."

"That's right." Doyle said as he puts his hand on Spike's shoulder, to stop him from leaving. "You've got a destiny..." Spike turns on Doyle, putting his hand to his throat, violently pushing his back to the wall.

"I don't give a piss about destiny." Spike stated honestly. "Now you take this destiny crap and tell the Powers to sod off."

"What about the visions?" Doyle asks, stopping Spike in his tracks. "You know they're like brain pictures, but they hurt. Like when you eat ice cream too fast. You start seeing people in trouble from your past and..."

"And just how do I stop those?" Spike asked as he looked down at him. "Know so much about me, you must know I get really violent when I'm being played. Now how do I stop them?"

"I honestly don't know." Doyle said as he started to fidget. "The powers would have chosen Angel, but..."

"Yeah that sounds like Captain Forehead's beat." Spike interrupted.

"Angel's not in the picture anymore. He's dead."

"Not that I care, but who got him?" Spike asked.

"The Seraphim."

"Bloody 'ell."

"Yeah, now listen I don't know how to stop your vision problem. Believe me, I know how it feels, but I can promise you this, whatever happened to you ends tonight."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike asked.

"Meet me here around midnight and find out." Doyle replied as he slipped him a card. "Be seeing you Spikey boy." Doyle replied as he turned to leave. "Oh and take these with you." Doyle said as he turned and handed something in a bag over to Spike. With that he left.

Spike watched his retreating form and sighed. Placing the card in his duster pocket and the bag at his side, he sat back down at the bar and ordered another drink.

Later that night

An alley

Spike wasn't a bit surprised when the address on the card led to an alley. With a sigh he begins to walk down the alley, when suddenly he hears the sound of a struggle up ahead of him. Then the coppery smell of blood filled the air. Quickening his pace, he turned a corner and saw a trio of vampires feeding off of a married couple and a little boy.

"Evening." Spike drawled as he approached them.

"Piss off, pal." One of the vamps said, as he looked up at Spike in annoyance.

"Easy now." Spike said with a cocky smile. "I just wanted to know if a bloke could join the fun?" he asked as he slipped into his vampiric visage. The vamp he was talking to, tilt his head to the side and smiled.

"Alright, you can join." he said as he moved to the side, to give Spike room to feed off of the woman. As Spike leaned in to feed on the now dead woman, a very painful vision hit.

Spike screamed out in pain and scampered away from the vampires.

"No I can't do this. I'm not a monster." he said repeating what he was saying in one of his visions. As he slipped back into his human guise he tripped over a huge cardboard box and something fell on top of him. Looking up he saw a little four year old girl with blonde hair and green eyes, staring down at him.

"So that's where you went?" one of the vampires said as he dragged the girl, kicking and screaming off of Spike. "I was looking all, over for you." he said as he took the girl, where the other vamps were.

"Please no!" she shouted out in her little tiny voice. "Please...I believe in you!" she yelled to Spike with pleading eyes.

That seemed to spark another vision in Spike's mind, as he thrashed on the ground in pain. He had a vision of himself, looking a wreck with the blonde Slayer hovering over him, telling him sincerely that she believed in him. That he was a good man.

"He's not going to help you little girl." the vamp holding her snarled as he prepared to bite down into her neck. Only for his eyes to go wide and for him to crumble into dust.

"I rather think I will." Spike said as he lowered his makeshift stake and helped the little girl to her feet. "Run." Spike told her. Turning around he was met with a fist to the face.

"What the hell is with you?" one of the vamps snarled as he looked down on Spike.

"You're killing your own kind and for what?" he asked.

"Because she believe's in me." Spike replied as he did a flip to get back to his feet.

Spike starts to fightboth vampires at once. They are kicking and punching each other. Almost in slow motion Spike's coat billows around him as he high-kicks a vampire on the top of a car. Turning Spike crouches close to the ground to sweep-kick the ankles of the other vampire, knocking him off balance and sending it sprawling to the ground.

Spike stands, waiting for the two vampires to charge at him again. There's a clicking noise as Spike's arms stiffen. The vampires run at Spike, who holds his arms out to his sides, revealing he's triggered hidden stakes to unfurl from his wrists. The vampires run into the stakes, and dust screaming. After the dust clears, Spike admires the gadgets on his wrists. They are what Doyle left him in the bag.

Hearing the little girl cry, snaps him out of his musings. Slowly but surely he walks over to her.

"Th...thank you." the little girl says with glassy eye's as she looks up at Spike.

"Oh don't thank me, little one." Spike says as he morphs into his vampiric face. As he leans in to bite her she screams and a overwhelming vision strikes him. The force of which sends him to the ground in a heap.

He's having a vision of a girl around the age of thirteen. He see's himself protecting her from a hell goddess and watching over her. Just as Spike was about to stand to his feet a dark shadow with an aura of light cascaded down on him. As it went inside of his body, he goes limp and unmoving.

Not knowing what else to do, the girl slowly approached him. As she got within five feet of him, Spike suddenly stood to his feet and turned around to look at her in his human face.

"Pl...please don't hurt me." the girl begged, as she looked over at the dead bodies of her parents and her older brother. Spike followed her line of vision and sighed.

"Were those your parent's?" Spike asked as he looks back at her. The girl is feeled with so much fear, she can't speak. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you, pet." he assured.

"Do you promise?" she asked. Spike only nodded his head. With that the girl ran to Spike, threw herself against him and started to cry.

"It's going to be alright." Spike whispered in her ear as he gently stroked her hair. "No tears, luv. Don't cry." After a few minutes, her tears subsided and she looked up at Spike.

"Are they dead?" she asked. Spike looked into her green eyes. He was lost for a minute in them because the little girl reminded him of somebody.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, luv but their dead."

"So what's going to happen to me now?" she asked, sounding much older then her years.

"Well I'm going to take you someplace safe, Nibblet." Spike says as he picks her up in his arms and heads out of the alley.

"My name isn't Nibblet." the girl said rubbing a fist against her watery eyes. "It's Anne."

"Anne it is then." Spike says as they walk out of the alley. She lay's her head on his shoulder and starts to cry softly.

* * *

"At a boy Spike." Doyle said from his position on the fire escape down the alley. He had watched the entire fight and he was rather impressed. But what he couldn't understand was what that dark shadow was.

"He did really good." a woman said from beside him. Snapping him out of his musings.

"That he did Cordelia." Doyle said as he moved over so she could sit by him. Which she promptly did. "But what I don't understand is what that dark shadow was."

"We foresaw the death of Angel in this timeline and since Tara was messing up with Spike we had no choice but to step in."

"So you're the one that's been sending him all of those visions?" Doyle asked as he looked at her.

"Well, duh." Cordelia said as she slapped him on the back of the head. "Spike was never meant to turn into a hero this soon. He had to be molded into a champion, because of the chip in his head and for the love of Buffy. Which brings me to that shadow..." she said as she ran her hand through her hair. "The way things were going in this timeline Spike wasn't going to become a hero at all. Even after all of the visions we sent him."

"So that shadow was..."

"Yeah." Cordelia answered. "That's just how serious this is. We didn't have a choice but to do it."

"So why aren't you callin' Tara your champion?"

"She is one, but she needs help." Cordelia answered. "Besides she has a slightly different journey to travel."

"But what part does the little girl play in all of this?" Doyle asked.

"Her destiny has been severely altered." Cordelia said as she stood to her feet and looked up into the nights sky. "She was supposed to die down in this alley, but now she's needed to be Spike's anchor, in this world."

"So what's going to happen to Spike now?" Doyle asked as he looked up at her.

"I don't know." Cordelia answered as she looked down at him. "But I can't wait to find out." she said with a smile. And with that Doyle stood to his feet and they both faded away into the darkness.

TBC...

Please review...


	25. Chapter 24 Inuyasha pt 1

Chapter 24

Inuyasha pt. 1

The familiar scenary assaulted Tara's senses as she slowly drove into her home state. Pleasant and not so pleasant memories hit her like a ton of bricks as she drove to Santa Fe. Oddly enough a day before they had arrived Giles called and told them that the executer of Tara's aunt's property had called. It seemed that since Tara was now of age, she was entitled to her aunt's estate and insurance money.

Seeing that the day was still early, she decided to go their first.

"Ah, and you must be Tara Maclay?" a snappy dressed lawyer asked as she entered his office. Tara nodded her head and sat down by his desk. "Firstly I would like to say that I'm sorry for the loss of your aunt. I knew her for many years and she will be missed."

"Thank you." Tara replied sadly. She really was going to miss her aunt.

"Now for the business at hand. As you're aware your aunt wanted for her home and property to be sold off at her death. She updated her will when you came into her life and she left you everything. Including the collection of her insurance policy money. After selling your aunt's house and property and getting her insurance policy money together..." he stopped so he could get out a calculator and add it up.

"The total monetary value that you will recieve, after my fee of course is...3.5 million dollars. Here's a bank draft for that amount." he said as he handed Tara said draft. "I also took the liberty of calling your Aunt's bank and telling them what was going on. So when you want to collect your money, go here." he said as he handed Tara a business card.

"Thank you." Tara said with wide eyes. It was strange that her Aunt was worth more dead, then alive.

"Not a problem. Have a nice day Miss Maclay."

"So how much did you get?" Faith asked as Tara got back to the car.

"Not much." Tara said sadly. "Only 3.5 million dollars." she said happily as she showed Faith the bank draft.

"Holy shit." Faith replied as she looked at the draft. "You're loaded."

"No, we're loaded." Tara corrected. "I'm giving you guy's 100,000 dollars each."

"What?" everyone seemed to say at the same time.

"No argument's." Tara said sternly as she looked at each of them in turn. "We've been through a hell of alot in the last month and a half, and I want something to share with my friends."

"I'm rich!" Faith shouted. "I'm so going to vegas."

"You know." Tara replied as Angel whispered something in her mind. "We might just do that."

"So where are we going now?" Amy asked.

"It's still early." Tara said as she looked up to the early morning sky. "So after we check into a hotel and get a little rest, why don't we visit Master Tao?"

With that suggestion made, the teens went to the nearest fancy hotel.

Later that day

Master Tao's Dojo

"Master." Tara called out as she and the other's entered the dojo. It was just as Tara remembered.

"Tara." an elderly voice said from a backroom. Looking up the gang saw an elderly Japanese man with long grey and white hair, coming out of the backroom. "I see that you've brought some friends?" he asked as he took a look around.

"Yes, Master." Tara said with a slight bow. Almost immediately the gang fell in line. And lined up beside Tara.

"This is the guy, who taught you how to fight?" Faith whispered into Tara's ear. The poor old guy didn't look as if he could go a round with a fruit fly, much less teach someone how to fight.

"I may be old." Tao said as he walked up to Faith. "But I've been known to still go with the best of them." As he said this Faith blushed and lowered her head.

"Ahhh... a soldier, a knight, a witch, a mystical warrior, and hidden potential." Tao said as he walked down the line and called out what he saw in the teens. "Do all of you wish to learn from me?"

"Yes Master." Tara replied in awe. She just couldn't figure out how he knew about her friends. "That's why I brought them here."

"I see." Tao replied as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I sense a great deal of potential from all of you. But before I can allow you to train under me, you must complete a task."

"I don't mean to question your methods Master." Tara said as she looked up at him. "But what task? You never made me or the other students do anything special. You just trained us."

"As I was saying, there is something special about all of your young friends. It's rare to find such a team together, but with my teachings you all could be unstoppable."

"Are you going to teach us some of that cool, special ninja power shit?" Faith asked. But then she realized what she had said. "Sorry."

"It's alright my child." Tao said with a smile. "I see I'll have to teach you more discipline then the others. Now all of you come with me. Your first lesson starts now."

As Tao made them drink a funny smelling tea, that he had brewed, he made all of them sit in a sacred circle. As he chanted something in Japanese, a thin portal opened. It seemed to bend and flex in mid air until it stabilized.

"Now go through the portal." Tao instructed.

"What's on the other side?" Xander asked as he eyed the man worrily.

"The beginning of your journey." Tao answered with a crooked smile. "Now go."

Taking a look at each other, the group shrugged and jumped through the portal.

"Good journey all of you." Tao said as the portal closed behind them.

* * *

The Gang fell in a heap, as they exited the portal. As they stood to their feet they looked around and saw that they were in some kind of forest. It was still daytime but that didn't make the place look any less creepy. And a wierd demonic mist spread across the ground as if it were covering the earth.

"Man where the hell are we?" Johnathon asked as he looked around.

"Never mind that." Xander said aloud. "How are we going to get back, because the portal's closed."

"Are you okay?" Tara asked as she looked over at Kendra. Her skin took on an ashen grey color and she looked kind of queasy.

"Dare's something wrong here." Kendra said as she looked up at her. "I can sense demonic presenses all around us."

"Ma...maybe that's why." Amy said as she pointed up to the sky. As the group looked up all shapes and sizes of demon snakes and demon heads filled the sky. There looked to be hundreds of them. And they all seemed to be coming for them.

"Oh shit." Faith whispered as she took a step back.

"Tara." Johnathon called out.

"Dragon Guanlet's!" Tara shouted out as she extended her arms. But no flash of light came. As she looked down at her wrists she saw that her Guanlet's didn't appear. "Oh shit!" Tara yelled, sharing Faith's earlier sentiment.

"All right new plan." Tara calls out. "We're not going to be able to outrun these things, so we have to fight. Everybody take out whatever weapon you have and get ready."

As the first wave of demons came down on them, Amy caught a glimpse of something red jumping over her shoulder. The force of which making her fall to the ground. Before she can issue out a warning about the possible threat, she hears a male voice yell out...

"Iron Reaper Soul Stealer!"

Looking up she see's a young man with a red kimono, long white hair, yellow amber eye's, and a katana, slashing away at the demons with his claws. As Amy tries to stand to her feet, a pair of soft hands wrap around her and help her up. Looking back she see's a beautiful raven haired Japanese girl. She also wore a green and white school girl uniform.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked as she helped Amy to her feet.

"Yeah." Amy replied as she tried to collect her thoughts. "But my friends..."

"They'll be taken care of miss." a man said as he stepped from behind the school girl. He had purple and black robes on and gave the presense of being a monk. Looking behind him, Amy could see a woman with pink and black armor getting off what looked like a flying sabretooth tiger and a little boy with a fox tail running up to the scene.

"Inuyasha!" the monk yelled out. "Bring those people over here, I'm going to use my wind tunnel." with that said Inuyasha, kept the demons at bay while Tara nad the others ran over to where Amy was. Seeing that they were safe, Inuyasha flipped through the air and stood beside the school girl.

"Wind Tunnel!" the monk shouted as he unwrapped his right hand. As he did so a black hole opened in the palm of his hand and a vortex of wind came out. The force of which sent every demon and basically anything in it's path into his hand. As soon as the threat was gone, he quickly wrapped the cloth and a string of sacred beads back over his hand.

"Thanks for saving us." Amy said as she walked up to the monk.

"Not a problem, miss." the monk replied as he took her hand in his. "Now would you do me the honor of bearing my children?"

"Miroku!" the girl with the pink and black armor shouted as she slapped him on the back of the head.

"I just asked a question." Miroku said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I hate to be rude, but who are you people?" the girl with the school girl outfit on asked.

"My names Tara, this is Amy, Johnathon, Faith, Xander, and Kendra." Tara replied as she pointed to all of her friends in turn. "Now who are you people and where are we?"

"My name is Kagome, this is Sango, Inuyasha, Shippo, Kirara, and the man who is probably going to ask all of the girls if they would bare his children is Miroku." Kagome informed them. "As for where you are... well you're in the feudal era of Japan."

"What!" the Scooby Gang all yelled at once.

* * *

"My family are caretakers of this shrine. The Bone Eater's Well contains a time portal that moves me from one time to another." Kagome explained as she and the others started their walk. "So that's not how you got here?"

"No we weren't even in Japan." Johnathon answered. "Our new karate teacher sent us here."

"But why, it just doesn't make any sense?" Xander questioned. "Why would Master Tao send us here?"

"That's the million dollar question." Amy said.

"This shrine..." Tara started as she walked up to Kagome. "can you take us to it?"

"Hell no!" Inuyasha growled as he stood to his feet. "That's about two day's of a journey away. We're on a quest to kill Naraku." he said as he crouched on the ground and sniffed the earth beneath him. "He's close. I couldn't mistake his awful stench. Naraku is near!"

"Hey mutt, she just asked a question." Faith told him. "Besides she can track, that Naraku guy faster then you can."

Inuyasha stood to his feet and growled. "Does she have a super powered nose?"

"Well yeah." Tara said with a shrug.

"Just shut the hell up anyway. It's not like she know's his scent."

"He's not usually like this." Kagome whispered to the Scooby Gang.

"Are you kidding." Shippo said as he jumped on Faith's shoulder. "Inuyasha is alway's this grumpy."

Wham!

"OW! Kagome, Inuyasha's picking on me again." Shippo whined as he touched the lump, Inuyasha put on his head.

"Sit boy!" Kagome said as the beads around Inuyasha's neck pulsed with a white light. Within a second an invisible force sent him face first to the ground.

"Damnit all." Inuyasha complained as Xander and the other's laughed at him.

* * *

"Lord Sesshoumaru..." Jaken said "when you retrieve Rin, what-"

"I have no intention of doing such a thing" Sesshoumaru told his toad like companion, even though it was a lie. Rin had been missing all morning and he was worried about her. She never took this long to get food. Never. "I have given Rin something of great importance. I'm going to retrieve it and that's all."

"Y-yes my Lord." Jaken replied as he struggled to keep up with his Master.

* * *

As Inuyasha and the others come to a tall hill, they suddenly hear screams. Looking down into the valley they see smoke coming up from a nearby village.

"Damnit!" Inuyasha shouted as he put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "I smell the stench of Kagura."

"Kagura?" Xander asked.

"She's a reincarnation of Naraku." Sango explained. "Now come on we..."

"Please... help... me..." a voice rasped out. Looking down they see a man whose been badly beaten and very bloody crawling towards them.

"Oh my God!" Amy yelled as she ran to him. "Sir you're going to be..."

"My village in the east... is under attack by a demon." the man said as he pointed towards where he came from. "Please..." he gasped as his eye's rolled in the back of his head. Letting out a final breath, the man slumped over and died.

"Rest in peace." Amy said as she closed the man's eye's.

"So what are we going to do?" Faith asked as Shippo jumped from her shoulder to Kagome's.

"We split up." Tara said as she took out a sword. "Inuyasha can you handle things on your end?"

"Yeah." Inuyasha said as he drew his Tetsusaiga. "When you get done with your demon, meet us back here." he told them. "Everybody else let's go."

With that the Scooby Gang and Inuyasha's group went their separate ways. Following the trail of dead bodies and the stench of blood, Tara's group was able to find the cause of the disturbance. It's a twenty five foot demon turtle in a lake, with what looks to be samurai's surrounding and trying to kill it.

"Oh shit." Faith said as she looked down at the very far corner of the lake. A little girl was down there trying to get out of the water, but the current that the monster was making was keeping her in. It was dragging her deeper and deeper into the water.

"Faith you and Johnathon get the girl." Tara said as she picked up a crossbow out of the hands of a dead soldier and threw it to Kendra. "Me and the others will distract the monster." With that said Tara, Amy, Xander, and Kendra ran off to help the soldiers, while Faith and Johnathon got the girl.

"Johnno, she's not breathing." Faith said as she emerged out of the water and layed the little girl down. The girl had long black hair and had a red and white kimono on.

"I...I know CPR." Johnathon said as he ran over to her. "Just tell Tara that we got the girl." Seeing that Johnathon had everything under control, Faith ran over and told, Tara what was going on.

"Good." Tara said as she looked over at the soldiers. "General, call your men back." once they did so Tara pulled her hands together as a red and blue ball appeared in her palms.

"Kah...me...ha...me...HA!" as the Kahmehameha wave hit, the turtle exploded in a shower of blood and bone fragments.

"Thank you for your assistance, priestess." the general said as he walked up to Tara. "We don't have much money, but we would be honored, if you and your companions would spend the night with us."

Tara was about to decline the offer, but the heavens suddenly opened up and it started to rain. Seeing that she and the others had no place to go, she looked up at the general.

"We'll take your offer."

"But what about, Inuyasha?" Kendra asked. "We said dat we would meet him back at de hill."

"That's about two miles away." Tara told her. "Besides he can alway's track us down, if he wanted to.Ow!" Tara yelled as something pinched her back.

"Are you okay?" Kendra asked.

"Y...yeah." Tara said as she rubbed at her back. "I guess a bug bit me or something."

"Hey sweetie, it's going to be okay." Amy said as she hiked up her jacket, so the rain wouldn't fall on the little girl. "We're going to take you someplace safe."

"Lord Sessho..." the girl managed to say as she passed out.

* * *

Kagura was pissed that she had been defeated by Inuyasha again. As she flew over the valley, she looked down at a battle scene of samurai's and a few young people fighting a huge demon turtle.

But someone in particular was radiating a lot of power. Peering into the night, Kagura saw that it was coming from a blonde haired girl with strange garments. Then she unleashed a red and blue wave from her hands and destroyed the turtle.

"That power." Kagura said to herself. 'Maybe she can help break the bond between me and Naraku. Then I'll finally be free.' with a plan forming in her head she took out a black jewel shard and threw it at the blonde priestess.

* * *

"She's coming too." a muffled sounding voice said over Rin. Opening her eyes she saw a pretty blonde girl looking down at her. Instantly afraid of the newcomer, Rin jumps back as if someone stung her.

"Hey it's okay sweetie. Nobody's gonna hurt you." Amy told her.

"Lord... Lord Sesshomaru, where are you?" the girl asked as she looked around. As she does so she see's a beautiful girl with long raven hair and two men. One short and one tall. All of them were looking at her.

As she turned to run, she ran into someone with a white Kimono on.

"Lord Sesshomaru!" Rin cried with joy.

"That's not my name sweetie." the voice said. Looking up Rin saw that it was a girl with long blonde hair. Dissappointed Rin started to cry. "It's going to be alright, sweetie." Tara replied as she pulled her into a hug.

A few minutes of explaining later

"So your name is Rin and you follow a demon man around?" Xander asked. Rin nodded her head. "Man why am I alway's surrounded by wierd girls?"

"Xander." Amy screeched as she slapped Xander on the back of his head.

"Don't mind them." Tara said as she pulled Rin close. "We'll help you find your friend in the morning."

"You don't have to." Rin informed her. "Lord Sesshomaru will come for me."

"Hey where'd you get those clothes and where's Ken?" Faith asked.

"Well the villagers think that I'm a preistess, so they gave me this outfit."

"So what are we chopped liver?" Faith asked. "We helped."

"Don't worry about it." Tara said as she looked up at her. "They have kimono's and other stuff for you guy's too." At that moment Kendra entered the room wearing a beautiful yellow silk kimono.

"Wow." was all Johnathon could manage to get out. Kendra looked amazing.

"Hey Ken, where have you been?" Faith asked.

"I was helping de villagers bury dare dead." Kendra said as she sat down beside Johnathon. "Den dey gave me dis to wear."

"Rin where are you going?" Faith asked.

"To get some wood." Rin said as she shivered a little. "I'm cold."

"Then that's share a blanket together." Faith said as she raised up her blanket. "It's still raining outside and the wood is all wet." with that said Rin curled up next to Faith and got under her blanket.

Tara looked at them and smiled. She never knew Faith had such motherly instincts. Her smile faded though as she heard a voice say.

"Preistess come out and show yourself!" As Tara stood to her feet, she slid the door open, just a crack and peered outside. As she did so she saw a woman with red eyes, a large fold up fan, wearing a purple and white kimono. Behind her were about twenty samurai skeleton warriors.

"Oh shit." Tara said as she moved away from the door. Xander ran up and peered outside.

"Amy stay here and watch over Rin." Xander said as he picked up a sword, from an earlier battle, and walked back to the door. Kendra, Faith, Johnathon and Tara were a step behind him as he walked out of the door.

"Who are you?" Tara asked, regarding the woman.

"My name is, Kagura." she said with a smile. "And I'm your new master."

"I don't think so lady." Tara said as she unsheathed her sword. Not wasting more time on useless banter, Tara charged the woman. Kagura merely unfolded her fan and the skeleton warriors ran from behind her and attacked the Scooby Gang.

TBC...

Please review...

A/N I know Inuyasha and the others speak Japanese, so that's why Tao made them drink tht funny tasting tea. It's a form of magic that works as a universal translator. Also in the next chapter I'll explain why they are in the past in the first place.


	26. Chapter 25 Inuyasha pt 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, someone with better talent then me does.

A/N When you read this chapter keep in mind that I never saw the end of Inuyasha. So I don't know what happened to the sacred Shikon Jewel. Enjoy it anyway though.

Chapter 25

Inuyasha pt. 2

"Don't worry sweetheart we'll be safe." Amy told Rin as they huddled in the inn. They could hear the fighting, that was going on outside. As if on cue a skeleton warrior, slowly lurched into the room and looked at them, causing Rin to scream and latch onto Amy.

As the warrior brought his sword down, it was stopped by an invisible barrier. Rin looked over at Amy and saw that her eyes were black and that she was mumbling something under her breath. Allowing herself a smile as she turned to look at Rin, Amy dropped the shield. Bringing her hand back, she mumbled a word in latin and an invisible force came out of her hand and hit the skeleton. The force of which sent him up against a wall where he shattered into pieces.

* * *

"Dance of Blades!" Kagura shouted as she waved her fan. Six purple blades came out and were going straight for Tara. Using her vampiric speed, Tara was able to dodge all of them. 

As Tara stood to her feet, she summoned a fireball in her hand. Before she was able to use it, she heard Inuyasha's voice yell...

"Wind Scar!" the energy from Inuyasha's sword flowed throughout the earth and was about to hit Kagura until, she jumped back.Looking at Inuyasha with a sneer, she threw a feather into the air and flew up high into the sky.

"Inuyasha, you came." Tara said as she ran up to him.

"Yeah." he replied as he rested his Tetsusaiga over his shoulder. Mirouku and the others were busy helping the Scooby Gang with the skeleton warriors. "Now why the hell are you guy's here, living in the lap of luxury? You were supposed to meet..."

"Preistess." Kagura shouted out, cutting off Inuyasha. "I command you to kill Inuyasha."

"Fat chance." Inuyasha said as he looked up at Kagura. "Now get down here and fight me!"

As he is saying this, he doesn't notice that Tara falls to the ground and starts to hyperventilate. As she looks up, her eyes are now an eerie blue and her face is demonic like a vampires. As she stands to her feet, she flashes her fangs and looks down at her newly formed claws.

(Tara what's going on) Angel whispered into her mind. (Snap out of it.)

But Tara couldn't understand. All she knew was the rush in her body, telling her that Inuyasha deserved to die. In fact everything should die, and it should be done by her hands. She let out a growl and prepared herself for an attack.

"What the hell." Inuyasha said as he turned to look at her.

Tara just cracked her knuckles like Inuyasha usually does, right before he used his claws to strike down someone. She began to run towards Inuyasha, ready to strike him down .

He dodged her first and second assault, but with the third swing, she was able to claw him in the chest. He backed away and grunted slightly, but pushed through the pain.

"So you lied to us?" Inuyasha asked. "I should have known, you're just one of Naraku's incarnation's aren't you?"

Inuyasha was expecting an answer, so when she spin-kicked him in the face, he was caught of guard. He was knocked down to the ground and dropped his sword, causing it to change back into normal, but he quickly recovered and got up as she clawed at him again.

"So you want to die, huh?" He grabbed his sword and it transformed again. "This'll make it easier to kill you! Wind Scar!" With a swing of his sword, his attack was coming towards her and fast.

But she was faster.

Jumping over his attack, Tara jumped the fifteen foot distance and punched him in the face.

"Who is dat fighting, Inuyasha?" Kendra asked as the combined forces of the Scooby and Inuyasha gang beat the skeleton warriors.

"I don't know but it looks sort of like..."

"Tara." Xander and Faith said in unison, cutting off what Johnathon was going to say.

"Your friends a half demon?" Shippo asked.

"No she's the exact opposite." Xander answered. The Inu-gang just looked at him strangely. "She's an Angel." he clarified.

"No matter what she is, we can't allow her to kill Inuyasha." Sango replied as she took a large boomerang type weapon off of her back.

Stepping off of Kirara, Sango spun around in a circle again, again, and again, and finally let go of her weapon.

"Hiraikotsu!" It flew towards Tara, who saw and heard it before it came to her. A moment right before it hit, Tara jumped over it, and grabbed it once she had landed back on her feet.

"What?" Sango said. "This girl is unreal!"

Dropping the weapon on the ground, Tara cracked her knuckles and smiled. She continuously began moving her hands, preparing for something powerful.

"What is she doing?" Kagome asked with her bow still tightly held in one hand and an arrow in the other.

"She's gathering energy!" Xander yelled out. "Everybody get back."

The demonic shard in Tara's back began to glow, and a brilliant black light began to surround her body, but especially her hands.

"Final Flash!" Tara shouted out in a demonic voice. A black wave erupted out of her hands and headed directly for Inuyasha.

"Backlash Wave!" Inuyasha shouted back as he hit his counter attack with his sword. The wave that Tara threw headed straight back for her. Tara was frozen in place and couldn't move when suddenly...

"Dance of Blades!" Kagura shouted. The blades hit the backlash wave and made it go harmlessly around where Tara was supposed to be standing. But as Inuyasha looked around, he couldn't find her anywhere.

"Damnit Kagura, where is she?" Inuyasha asked as he looked up at the sorceress. As he said this he sensed a presense beside him. Before he could defend himself, Tara punched him in the face sending him to the ground.

"Why you..." Inuyasha started as he got to his feet.

"Inuyasha." Mirouku called out. "Don't kill her, she's been possessed by one of the dark shards."

"Damnit all." Inuyasha said from hearing the information and from avoiding a strike from Tara.

"Hey guy's what's going on?" Amy asked as she walked outside, with Rin. Tara turned her back to Inuyasha and snarled at Amy and Rin. With speed thought to be impossible she ran for the two of them.

As she got within ten feet of them, a blur of something white hit her in the face. The force of which knocking her down. Looking up she see's a man with long white hair, wearing a white and black outfit with fur and two swords.

"Lord Sesshoumaru!" Rin shouted out, as she tries to run forward, only for Amy to hold her back.

"Wait sweetie, they're fighting." Amy told her.

Sesshoumaru turned around and looked at Rin, but then he heard Tara growl from behind him.

Sesshoumaru turned back around and merely looked at Tara.

"Oh, you wish to fight me?" he asked.

Not answering Tara charged forward, with a growl. Tara began to claw at Sesshoumaru, but he was too fast for her. He dodged every move she made, and didn't strike against her.

Sesshoumaru suddenly grabbed Tara by her neck, but didn't put more force on it than what it took to lift her up off of the ground. "What are you doing? Do you wish to die?"

Tara could break free from his grasp, but a voice in her mind told her not too.

"Please my lord don't kill her." Rin begged as she ran up to them. Then Sesshoumaru's Tensaiga pulsed.

'The Tensaiga." Sesshomaru thought to himself. 'Why do you wish to be drawn.'

Throwing Tara away from him, he unsheathed the Tensaiga. As Tara got to her feet she charges at him again. Swinging his sword it goes harmlessly through her, but the fake jewel shard came out of her back and broke.

Tara slumped to the ground as her friends came up to her and supported her. Inuyasha looked to the sky and cursed under his breath as he saw that Kagura was gone.

"Tara are you okay?" Kendra asked as she ran up to her.

"Yeah, my head hurt's a little." Tara said as she stood to her feet. She had completely turned back to normal. "What happened?"

"We'll explain later." Mirouku said as he walked up to her.

"Hey!" Kendra and Tara shouted as the perverted monk felt on thier asses. He didn't see the slaps coming.

"I was just checking to see, if you ladies were okay." he replied as he picked himself off of the ground.

"Rin let's be off." Sesshoumaru said as he checked Rin over. Rin ran to his side and the two prepared to walk off.

"Wait!" Amy shouted out. "I want to get a picture of you guy's first." she said as she ran back into the inn and got her camera.

After alot of arguing Inuyasha finally agreed to take a picture. The group got together and Jaken snapped the picture just like Amy showed him.

"Look Lord Sesshoumaru." Rin said as she held up the picture. "It's me and you."

"That it is Rin." Sesshoumaru said as if he didn't care. But really he was amazed that such a contraption could make a portriat of them all.

"I want you to keep that picture." Amy told her.

"But I don't have a present to give you."

"Don't worry about it squirt." Amy said as she ruffled her hair. "Just take care of yourself."

"Will I ever see you again?" Rin asked. Amy just gave her a struggled smile.

"I don't know kid." Amy said as she stood to her feet. "Believe it or not, but me and my friends are from a different time."

"I'll figure out a way to pay you back." Rin informed her. "I promise."

After giving Amy a hug, Rin gave her thanks to the Scooby gang and walked off with Sesshomaru singing a little childish tune. "If you get in my way again Sesshoumaru, I'll kill you!" Inuyasha couldn't help but yell out to his older brother. Sesshoumaru didn't even bother to turn around.

* * *

(At least I got you back.) Angel whispered to Tara. They had just got done discussing about her transformation and she apologized to Inuyasha. 

(Yeah, I just hope I never turn into that thing again.)

(Don't worry about it) Angel told her. (You heard what Mirouku said. It was because of the black jewel shard.)

(I don't know Angel. I just feel that the jewel only awakened something in me. Something that's deep down inside of me. Something dark.)

"So you're a Slayer?" Sango asked Kendra as all of them returned to the inn.

"Yes, but unlike your clan, I was called to have powers to kill demons."

"Yeah, I've heard of the true Slayer's." Sango informed her. "That's how our clan and other's got started in the first place. We heard of the Slayer legend, but to many demons came to Japan, so our clan decided to put some groups together."

"I'll take you to the well tomorrow." Kagome said as she sat down beside Tara and the others. "It want take you to New Mexico, but at least you'll be in your right time."

"Thank you." Tara told the younger girl. "I know it's out of the way, but..."

Suddenly a swirling vortex opens, startling all of them. As Tara looks inside she see's her Master looking in on them.

"I guess we don't have to go to the well." Tara says with a smile. "Come on guy's let's go home."

Gathering their stuff, the Scooby gang says their goodbyes and jump through the portal. As they emerge on the other side, they all fall in a heap on the floor.

"I see that you all had a good time." Tao said as he looked down at his students.

"You know." Xander said as he stood to his feet. "When we got there we were really pissed. But I have to be honest we really did have fun."

"But why did you send us back there." Tara asked.

"Because of this." he said as he handed Amy a withered old picture. It was deterioriated in many places, but their faces were still on the picture. Tara's was the clearest.

"How did you get this?" Amy asked. "That little girl..."

"Was my ancestor Rin." Tao informed them. "That's why I sent you back in time. It was part of your destiny to save her and then be trained by me."

"So is that why you trained me in the first place?" Tara asked.

"When I first met you, I knew that you had a great destiny to fulfill. I stumbled onto that picture the day when your Aunt died. Then I knew you were the one."

"I have another question, Master. I tried to use my Dragon Guanlet's but they didn't work. Why?"

"That's because Rin didn't make them yet." Tao replied. "The family legend says that at some time or another she got her hands on the Sacred Shikon jewel. So to complete her promise of giving you a present she forged the Dragon Guanlet's. They were passed down from generation to generation, in the hopes that one day you would recieve them."

To test out that theory, Tara called upon her Guanlet's and they appeared on her wrists. But she noticed that the colors of the jewels turned from green to red.

"So why is Tara, the only one to get some cool, jewelery?" Faith asked. "Me and Johnny are the one's who saved her life."

"Who said the Dragon Guanlet's were the only things she forged?" Tao asked as he produced a box and opened it. As he did the gang saw five goldenbracelets with different colored jewels in them. The colors were, yellow, blue, black, clear, and green.

"For saving her from drowning you are given the elemental power of water." Tao said as he gave her thebracelet with the blue gem. "For giving her the breath of life you have the elemental power of air. As for you Kendra, you showed Rin to have compassion for the dead by giving those soldiers a decent burial, so you are given the power of earth. Xander you showed bravery and leadership against dark forces, so you are given the power of the shadows. And last but not least Amy, you showed Rin friendship and love so you are given the power of healing and barriers. Your's also works to increase your magical powers."

The teens looked at thebracelets in awe and finally put them on. As they did so their clothes were stripped away only to be replaced by some black leather ninja looking outfits.

"Ahhh... the jewels have merged with you." Tao told them.

"What does that mean." Johnathon asked.

"It means that starting tomorrow, I teach you the secret's of the ninja. Welcome to the Wind Ninja Academy. I haven't taught anyone in it's art in a very long time, but I feel that you will meet my expectations. Now go to your home to get some rest."

"Yes Sensei." all of them seemed to say in unison. With that the kids gathered their stuff and walked out of the dojo. Tao looked at their retreating forms with a smile.

"Your journey's are just beginning."

TBC...

Please review...

Also since this is an alternate universe the wind ninja's have nothing to do with power rangers. So don't expect to see a crossover with the power rangers. Even though I was going to do a crossover with them. I was going to have Xander get his hands on the samurai rangers green amulet. So when he came back to his right time he was going to give it to Tao, who was going to throw it into another portal to give it to Miko's ancestors.

Also things will return back to cannon after two more chapters. But be expecting some severe time jumps. I also know that a polaroid picture would never last that long, but hey this is a fanfic not real life.


	27. Chapter 26 Not Fade Away Again

A/N I wanted to apologize to the fans of this fic for two reasons. One for taking so long to update and two for having to do what I have to do now. I really want to get this fic over with and I've had writer's block on it for so long that this is the only thing I can do. Plus I lost almost all the info I was going to do for the other chapters.

There's gonna be a summary of events that led to not fade away at the end of this chapter. And there will be one more chapter after this.

Chapter 26

Not Fade Away Again pt.1

Circle of Blackthorn

Secret Chamber

Tara sat at the head of a long table casting distrustful looks at an assortment of demons. Propping her feet up on the table and leaning back in her chair, she waited for one of them to speak. Seeing that no one would say anything, she started off.

"You all wanted to see me?"

"Yes." Archduke Sebassis started. "We have much to talk about."

"But... let me be the first to say thank you for weakening the Wolfram and Hart beast. Because of you the Circle is now the true source of power of this world." the old archmage Vail wheezed out. The other members of the Circle seemed to nod or grunt out their agreement.

"But I can tell by the look in your eyes that you know that's not the only reason we called you here." the Archduke spoke up once again. "There aren't any secret's amongst the Circle. We've had a team doing some research on you and your past but we can't find much. All that we do know for certain is that your real name is Tara Antoinette Maclay and that you are from Shelbyville County, New Mexico. We were a bit shocked that you weren't actually born a Seraphim so we would all like to know what exactly happened to you?"

"I can't really explain it myself, but let's just say that I have problems with my soul." Tara answered.

"It wouldn't happen to have anything to do with a certain little prophecy would it?" Senator Brucker asked as she held up a scroll. "You've displayed signs of vampirism so we think the Shanshu prophecy applies to you."

(Angel do you think they're onto us?) Tara mentally asked.

(I don't know but get ready just incase.) he warned. Taking his warning seriously, she readied a fire ball in the palm of her hand under the table.

"We originally thought that it applied to the souled vampire Angelus, but since you ironically enough killed him then we think it falls on you."

"One might think that you were trying to manipulate the Circle in order to fulfill the prophecy and go back to being fully human." the Archduke interjected.

"And just why would I want to go back to being fully human?" Tara asked as she sat up a little straighter.

"Because of the temptation of having a normal life." Izzy the devil demon spoke up for the first time. "You're gonna live for a long time and you're gonna have to watch your friends die."

"I'm gonna live long enough to watch alotta people die." Tara said looking at them all in turn. "Gentlemen, I've lived a rough life but now I have power. I can be as big and bad as I want to be so I ask again why would I want to become human?"

"So you wouldn't mind signing this pesky little thing then." the Archduke asked as he put a scrolled document on the table and slid it towards her. Expecting to sign off the Shanshu prophecy she was surprised to find out that it was something else all together.

"What is this?"

"It's a document saying that your spirit will never enter the gates of heaven." Senator Brucker informed her. "If you're truly one of us then I don't see any reason for you to care."

"I don't." Tara said firmly as she pricked the end of her finger and dabbed some blood on a pen that was on the table.

(Tara don't do this!) Angel mentally yelled into her head. But it was already to late as she started to write her name.

"Now that that's settled." Tara started as Izzy took the document, held it in his hand and watched as it puffed into nothingness, to be filed away in who knows where. "I want all of you to share some wine with me." she said as she reached into her duster and pulled out a wine bottle. "I stole this from a vineyard in Sunnydale before it's collaspe."

Just saying that brought back the bad memories of her having to kill father Caleb, but she put a smile on her face anyway.

"What's the special occasion?" Izzy asked.

"Let's just say for being out with the old and in with the new." she replied as she poured a few glasses and passed them around the table. Showing good faith that the wine wasn't poisoned she took a sip out of her glass. Looking all throughout the room she noticed that the only person who didn't drink any was Vail and Senator Brucker.

Wolfram and Hart

Later that day

Tara stood in front of her window, wearing some black slacks and a black wife beater shirt overlooking the city with a pensive look on her face. Tonight was possibly going to be the last night of her life and she was afraid.

(Tara for the last time you need to involve the rest of your team in this.)

(And for the last time Angel, no.) Tara answered back. (I'm not gonna let any of them die like they did in the original timeline. The way everything worked out anyway all I have to deal with is The Fell Brethren, Hamilton, Vail, and Senator Brucker.)

(And the whole army of Archduke Sebassis.) Angel pointed out. (Tara that's why I had my team with me.)

(And that's why all of them died with you.) Tara angrily interrupted. (I'm sorry.) she amended knowing that she had gone to far.

(It's alright.)

"Hey boss you wanted to see us?" Chris Redfield asked as he, Alonna, Kendra, Spike, Illyria, Wesley, Fred, Leon, and Lorne walked into the room. He never thought in a million years that he would one day be working for her, but after she closed Umbrella with her resources at Wolfram and Hart he knew he had to follow her.

"Yeah, I did." Tara said with a smile as she turned around and sat on the edge of her desk. "I know that I've been running you guys ragged lately with all these missions and..."

"Tell me about it luv." Spike cut her off. "We haven't had a single day's rest since we've been 'ere."

"Which is exactly why I want you guys to take the rest of the night and tomorrow off." Tara informed him. And for the first time the group as a whole saw that something was a little off about her. As if she were hiding something.

"Kid are you alright?" Chris whispered into her ear.

"I'm fine." Tara replied as she put her hands around his head and kissed him on the cheek. "You know I love you right?"

"Yeah." he replied as he looked at her funny. Something definately was wrong.

"Now you guys get out of here." she said as she shooed them out of the room. "And Spike."

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned around and looked at her.

"Drink one for me." she said giving him a wink. Spike looked at her strangely at that and then walked out of the room closing the door behind them. Taking a seat at her desk Tara thought about all the happy times she had with her friends, because tonight everything was gonna end.

"Harmony." Tara said as she pushed a button on the desk intercom.

"Yeah, Bossy?" came Harmony's voice.

"When you see Mr. Hamilton send him to my office."

* * *

"Did any of you think that Tara was acting a little strange?" Alonna asked as she led the group down the hallway. 

"Angelcakes alway's acts strange." Lorne joked.

"I'm serious." Alonna said as she pushed the button for the elevator. "I've never seen her like that before. She's been acting strange all week."

"I know what you mean." Chris spoke up.

"And we've seen this before." Illyria said as she turned to look at Spike. "Isn't that correct half breed?"

But Spike wasn't really paying attention to her, even as he got on the elevator. All he could think about was the way Tara winked at him. It made him think of long ago when Angelus would give him that same look and wink. He would always do that just before they would go into a major battle with someone. Then it hit him like a light and he knew what was going on.

"Spike?" Kendra asked, snapping him out of his dark reverie. "Are you alright?"

"Not really luv." he replied as his mind raced with a hundred thoughts. "There's some things I should tell you all."

* * *

"You wanted to see me Seraphim?" Hamilton asked as he walked into her office. He noticed that she looked at him strangely and that she was wearing her duster. "Going somewhere?" 

"Not yet." Tara said as she stood to her feet. "Have a seat." as he sat down she walked around her desk and behind him.

"Was there a reason for you wanting to see me?" Hamilton asked as she ran her hand through his hair.

"Shhh... don't talk to loudly. What I have to tell you is of extreme importance." she said as she sat on his lap and started whispering in his ear. "I've uncovered a plot tonight that someone poisoned the Circle of the Blackthorn."

"What I have too..."

"It's too late." Tara cut him off. "Most of the members are already dead, but I want you to deal with the person responsible."

"Who is it?" Hamilton asked angrily.

With a smile on her face Tara leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "It's me." before he could react to what she had said to him, she reached around his head and brutally twisted and snapped his neck.

Before his now dead body could hit the floor, she grabbed it and tossed him out of the window, shattering it. Looking out of the now big hole, she kicked the rest of the glass out, reached into her duster for a grappling hook gun, fired it off and swung down onto a lower building. Touching the surface of it, she took off, jumping and rolling off of building top to building top.

Even later that night

Tara ran out of a dark building, carrying a bundle of something in her arms, with all the vampiric speed she could muster. As she ran up to a yellow cab the building behind her exploded in a ball of fire, nearly taking her off of her feet.

"Oh my God!" a woman yelled out as she rolled down the window of the cab. "My baby..."

"Is fine." Tara said as she handed the woman her baby, that was wrapped up in a blanket. "Now get out of here and don't ever hand your baby over to a demon cult again."

Watching as the cab drove away, Tara reached down to her stomach, looked down at her hand and saw that she was heavily bleeding.

(Tara are you alright?) Angel asked.

(I'm just running hot.) Tara said back to him. (I've killed Hamilton, The Fell Brethren, and Senator Brucker. I just have Vail to deal with now.)

(Be careful. He's an old demon but he's still full of power.)

Cyvus Vail's Mansion

Vail sat at his long elegant table, eating a soup composed of chopped up internal organs in a broth of blood. Putting the spoon in his mouth once again, he watched as a section of his wall exploded, sending wood and chunks of brick flying everywhere. With a smile on his face, he watched as a figure emerged out of the smoke and debris.

"I've been expecting you Seraphim." he said as Tara fully walked into the room.

"You're the last one Vail." Tara replied breathing hard.

"I already know that little one." Vail said as he stopped eating his soup and stood to his feet. Thanks to her, he would be the only one entitled to take over as the new senior partner. He just had to get rid of her first, however. "Did you really think that I was stupid enough to drink any of that poison from you? And did you really think I was a fool like the rest of the Circle? I've been watching you everysince you left this dimension."

"It doesn't matter now." she said as she brought her hands back, readying a blue energy ball in the palm of her hands. "Kamehame..."

"Ha!" Vail finished as he held out his hand and summoned Tara's attack in his palm, firing it as he did so. Jumping out of the way, Tara was barely able to dodge the deadly Kamehameha wave. "Come now Seraphim." Vail started as he walked around the table. "Surely you're more powerful than that." he said as he held out a hand making Tara levitate a few feet off the ground from his power.

"I'm glad you think so." Tara said with a wince as she summoned some of her power making her hair and eyes fade in and out into black. "Dragon Guanlets!" as the golden bracelet's materialized around her wrists, Vail lost his hold over her. Standing fully erect she slowly stalked up to the last of the Circle of Blackthorn.

"Take your best shot little girl."

Tara then swung a powerful punch at Vail's head, sending rivots of power through her arm, ultimately shattering the old demons head with the force of the blow. Watching as the now headless archmage fell to the ground dead, Tara turned to walk out of the room but saw something hanging on the far wall.

Taking the elaborately decorated katana out of it's sheathe, she ran out and into the night.

An alley close to the Hyperion Hotel

Tara ran down the alley behind the Hyperion, carrying her sword, running through the pouring rain. When she got to the chain-link fence at the end of the alley, she looked around nervously expecting the end. As the sky thundered above her, as the heavy rain continued, she heard a loud clammering sound coming from the other side of the alley.

"This is it." she said to herself as she clutched her sword a little tighter.

"Not quite luv." she heard a voice say behind her.

"Spike?" she asked as she turned to see the bleach blonde vampire climbing over the top of the fence.

"Yeah and I brought a little back up." slicing into the fence with his axe Gunn, Alonna, Chris, Leon, and Kendra walked up behind her.

"Guys what...I don't understand."

"Come on kid, you said you loved me." Chris said with a shrug. "It had to be an apocalypse."

"And we couldn't leave our girl hanging could we?" Gunn asked as he twirled his homemade axe in his hands. "Besides, I haven't kicked any demon ass in a long time."

"We informed your team of what happened in the original timeline." Illyria said as she jumped down from a neighboring building, splashing up water as she did so.

"Yeah and the last two wankers that's supposed to be here are late." Spike said clearly annoyed.

"I heard that deadboy jr." a voice said from the shadows. Stepping into the light, Tara saw something that she thought was a demon, that only turned out to be Xander and Dante. "We're here to back you up Tara."

Taking a look back at her friends, who had on their game faces and were readying their weapons, a tear formed in her eye. They were clearly ready and willing to give their lives not only to help her but to save the entire world. Hearing the sounds of the metal from the armored demons behind her snapped her out of her musings.

Turning towards the hordes of demons that clammered behind her a wicked gleam filled her eyes as she hefted up her katana.

"All right gang get ready." Tara said as the demons got even closer. Leon and Chris cocked their shotguns, while everyone else twirled their swords or axes.

"I'm so gonna slay that dragon." Dante said as he took his sword Rebellion off of his back and watched as a giant dragon flew angrily in the air.

"Not if I get to it first mate." Spike said over his shoulder.

"I've been waiting almost six years to say this." Tara said as the demon army attacked. "Let's go to work." she said swinging her sword.

Kendra's Apartment

Sametime

"I wonder what's taking Kendra so long to get home?" Amy said as she glanced at her watch and took a sip of her soda.

"Who knows." Jonathan said as he walked into the room and sat down beside her. The two had just flown from England after a Watcher's Council meeting and they wanted to surprise the gang. But Jonathan wanted to surprise his wife first since they haven't seen each other in awhile.

"Maybe that's her now." Amy said as they heard a knock at the door. Getting up and running into the hall Jonathan opened up the door and found it to be Drusilla with a new arm and a wide assortment of vampires and demons. But that's not what he saw when he opened the door. Thanks to Dru's power he was looking at his wife and all of their friends.

"Honey why are you knocking on the door?" Jonathan asked as he smiled at Kendra. "And what are the rest of you guys doing here?"

"I feel silly but I lost me key." Kendra said as she smiled widely at him. "Can me and de others come in?"

"Yeah this is our apartment remember?" Jonathan said as he stepped aside and let her and the others cross over the treshold. Giving her a kiss on the lips, he noticed that her lips were cold, but ignored it and walked towards the living room.

"Johnno who was at the door?" Amy asked as he walked back into the room. As she asked the question she had her back from him and was looking on their book shelf for a good book to read.

"It was Ken and the others."

"Not quite dear." Kendra said as she dropped her glamour, exposing herself to be Drusilla and her demons.

"Oh God!" Amy screamed out as she tried to activate her powers.

"God doesn't have any place 'ere." Drusilla whispered into her ear, as she used her vampiric powers to end up behind her. The last thing Amy saw before darkness claimed her were vampires holding down and feasting on Jonathan and the last thing she heard was her own screams as Drusilla shifted into her vampiric visage and bit into her neck.

A/N Tara had already taken the antidote to the poison she gave the Circle before she started the meeting. Also what will Tara do once she finds her friends? Stay tuned for the next chapter and find out.

But here's a summary of the events that lead to not fade away and there will be another chapter after this one.

After studying under Master Tao, he tells Tara that she's distributing too much power and that one day she would either be killed by her own power or become so powerful that she would destroy the world. He tells her of some witches in san francisco (The Charmed Ones) and that they can help drain off some of her power.

She drops the gang back off in Sunnydale and as she tries to go to San francisco to meet the charmed one's a portal opens above her car and Rembrant Brown from Sliders drops out of it (it takes place a minute after the series finale of Sliders and answers where Rembrant went when he went through that portal alone. So if haven't seen sliders before then you'll be lost on that crossover.) They find the doubles of Quinn and the professor in Tara's dimension and Quinn has another sliding device and gives it to Remy. When he opens it however, Tara gets sucked in and goes with Remy where he finds his friends. Using the other timer, she ends up in the wrong dimension and ends up meeting and fighting dante from the devil may cry game.

It turns out that the Senior partners are in the dimension he's in so they attack them only to find it to be a large demon with three heads. Not being able to kill it, because Tara's time in that dimension is almost up, they jumped out of a thirty story wolfram and hart building and onto a motorcycle. Opening up the portal, they go back to Tara's home dimension only to find out that they travelled over five years into the future. It turns out that in Dante's dimension time travels differently so every hour that passed in his dimension a year passed in her's.

Now this is what happened in Tara's dimension while she was gone. After noticing Tara was missing Kendra went into Tara's diary and found out about most of the big bads that were coming up. (Most of what was written was second hand info from Angel that he got from Willow when she would call and update him on things in the original timeline.) During season 3 when the Scooby Gang was defeating the mayor Faith was killed and Xander left, because of his possession by batman during halloween he got Bruce Wayne's business savvy, and he went to LA and later New York to start a company with David Nabbit. Kendra and Jonathon later get married. Cordelia also goes to LA and lives her dreams as a movie actress. During the night that Tara shows up, she heartbreakingly has to kill Caleb who has just broken the neck of a potential in his vineyard. Since season six didn't happen all the season seven stuff happened in that years place. And Sunnydale still sinks into nothingness.

Meanwhile in LA Spike took over what Angel was supposed to do and starts a new team. With him as champion, Anne as his seer, Lily from that episode of Anne on angel, Wesley, Lorne, and both Gunn's. It turns out that just like Angel went inside of Tara, Spike's esscence from the future went inside of his past self. Later a vamp version of Faith comes around and she and Spike fight, but upon having a physical attraction for each other the two have sex and Faith gets pregnant.

So she wouldn't have to dust herself Tara found a Mohra demon (the same demon that made Angel human once) and used it's blood to turn Faith back human, so she could have the baby. Which was a little girl with blonde hair that they named Kathy after Angel's little sister. Sahjhan then unleashes Holtz and convinces him to take Kathy. When Sahjhan opens the portal to Qurtoth, (Tara/Angel didn't think that Holtz would appear at all because they thought that the prophecy only revolved around Angel and Darla so she left town to handle other business not knowing that sahjhan had appeared and ressurrected Holtz.) instead of Holtz just taking Kathy, Anne runs to try to save her and goes through the portal herself.

Both children returned two weeks later, Anne a beautiful 21 year old and Kathy a mean spirited teenager. Holtz raised both of them and Anne tried to tell her little sister better but Kathy still hates her parents. She even has a little scar over her eyebrow like spike does. Holtz still dies. Making sure Jasmine never came about, Tara wants to take out the last of her opposition so she gathers her friends and takes over wolfram and hart from holland manners.

Fred, Alonna, Kendra, Spike, Wesley, Lorne, Leon, and Chris Redfield work for her. Willow, Buffy, Amy, and Jonathon work for Giles in his new Watcher's council. As for Anne and Kathy, wanting a better life for them Faith and Spike decided to have part of their memories erased (like Connor did during season four and five) except that they still remember that Spike and Faith are their parents and all about the supernatural. They were just made to forget everything that happened to them in Qur'toth and now they live in the good part of LA sharing an apartment together as sisters. With Anne in college and Kathy in school, also Faith went with them. Gunn reopened the hyperian hotel and made it a successful business while Xander runs his own corporation, and Dante starts his own demon hunting business thanks to the money Tara gave him. Also Alonna did the procedure to make herself a lawyer, not Gunn because he was still doing the hotel business and didn't join Tara's new team with Wolfram and Hart.

Wanting to put an earlier stop to Illyria, Tara gets rid of Knox and goes down to the customs part of the building to get rid of her tomb. When she touches it, it opens and Illyria's essence comes out. Using her magical abilities Tara stops it and makes her friends leave the room. Deciding to come for a visit at that exact moment Cordelia walks into the room making Tara loose her concentration and making Illyria's essence go inside of Cordy. When she reverts to Illyria, Cordelia remembers most of what was supposed to happen in the original timeline and she calls Tara half breed because she see's Angel inside of her. Tara also fire's Eve so Hamilton can come on board. Also there's no Lindsay because Spike had killed him years before. Tara also finds out from a source that the circle of black thorn finished her job for her and killed the senior partner beast. Now they want her to join their fold as one of them, which now leads to this chapter.

If you have any other questions about anything just ask away. Also the group with the exception of Spike and Illyria still don't know that Angel is inside of Tara. I have a picture of Cordy as Illyria so anybody that wants it, just send me an email. Also Harmony never got busy with Hamilton. Tara was more cautious in this timeline then Angel was, so he nor her team suspected anything.


	28. The Last Night of the Seraphim

A/N I personally want to thank everyone who supported me throughout this fic. This was my baby and I hate to see it end, but I have other fics that I must concentrate on and new ones to start. I also wanted to say I'm sorry about what happened during the course of this fic (like not being able to post chapters I was working on for example.) but it couldn't be avoided.

Anyway this is the end and I hope you enjoy it, because I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 27

Not Fade Away Again pt.2

A.K.A.

The Last Night of the Seraphim

Three Hours Later

The sun shone brightly over LA but even the brightness and beauty of it couldn't overshadow the darkness and destruction that took place last night. Out of all of the darkness and rubble from all of the destroyed buildings, someone stood in the mists of it and was laughing.

Tara rocked back, a drop of bloody spittle dripping from the corner of her chin. Doing an easy rainbow kick, she snapped the black horned demons head back, ending the last of the Circle of Blackthorn's army.

"I think I'm sitting in demon piss." Leon laughed out as he let out a low wince. He was hurting all over, especially his ribs.

"That's great Leon." Tara replied sarcastically as she extended a hand and helped him to his feet. Looking around herself, she saw that her family was bruised, battered, and bloody but still alive.

"So that was an apocalypse?" Chris asked as he kicked some green gunk off of his shoes. "And all those demons..."

"Those guys were chumps." Dante said as he leaned against the wall making everybody give him a look. "And I would've killed a hell of alot more of them if blue thunder didn't get in my way." he said as he tapped Illyria on the butt.

"Watch yourself halfbreed." Illyria said as she glared at Dante. "I am Illyria, god king of..."

"Blah, blah, blah." he cut her off. "Whatever you say babe."

If it wasn't for Spike and Tara holding Illyria back, she would've ripped Dante a new one.

"So what do we do now?" Alonna asked as she leaned her bloody head on her brother for support.

"Well, I say we celebrate." Leon said with a wide grin as he put his shotgun over his shoulder. At everyone's look he added. "After we clean up of course."

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Xander added as he dropped a bloody sword to the ground. "We just saved the world so maybe later on tonight we could hook up and go to a club or something."

"That sounds like a good idea dweeb." a voice suddenly said behind them. Turning they saw a curvy figure, wearing a white robe and hood that covered her face, with a holy glow around her.

"Who the hell are you?" Wesley asked as he leveled his shotgun at her. To his surprise she didn't flinch.

"No one you need to be concerned about." she replied as she waved a hand in front of them. An invisible wave struck the gang and made all of them freeze in place. That was all except Tara, Spike, and Illyria. "Your destiny is finally fulfilled." Cordelia said as she took the hood off of her head.

"I do not understand." Illyria said as she cocked her head to the side and looked at her double. "You are my shell. How can you be here?"

"It's a whole time thing, luv." Spike answered as he stayed back in the shadows, to avoid being burned to a crisp. "Anywho she must be 'ere to take my esscence away."

"Actually no." Cordy said as she smiled at him. "You have a destiny of your own to fulfill."

"But..."

"No but's Spike. If I take your future esscence away from your body now then he'll never be the champion that he was meant to be." seeing that he was about to protest, she quickly put in. "Besides, blue over here needs a guide into this world."

"So what are you here for then?" Tara finally asked. Letting out a sigh, Cordelia told her.

"I'm here for Angel." with that she waved her hand and another wave of power hit Tara and suddenly the solid form of Angel stood at her side. As he finally left her body, Tara felt as if a heavy weight had finally been lifted off her shoulders.

"Wait, you can't take him. What about..."

"This was all a part of me and Angel's deal." Cordelia interrupted her. "I'll give him time to say goodbye to you, but we really have to be on our way."

"What deal?" Tara immediately asked Angel as Cordelia, Spike, and Illyria walked further down the alley to give them some privacy.

"Do you remember when we first moved in with your aunt?" he asked as he let out an involuntary sigh. 'Damnit Cordy I really didn't want to let this cat out of the bag.'

"Yeah, what about it?"

"Cordelia came to me and told me why she really sent me back in time."

"Yeah to stop the Circle of Blackthorn. I get that, but what deal was she talking about?"

"I had to take over your body to make sure that you..." he stopped for a second and took in her gaze. It was one of expectance and also a look that told him that she would know if he were lying or not. "It was to make sure that you didn't die." and seeing a strange look in her eyes he still continued. "Cordelia told me that if I didn't join with you, that you would still go on to join in the fight against darkness. And soon after that some idiot boy was gonna come and kill you. I just couldn't sit back and..."

He was silenced when Tara stood on her tiptoes and softly kissed him on the lips.

"So this whole thing was about protecting me?" she asked as he wiped a tear from her eye.

"Yeah." he replied calmly as he pulled her close.

"Alright, Angel it's time to go." Cordelia said as she walked back towards them.

"We just n..n...need more time." Tara stuttered as fresh tears stung at her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Cordy told her honestly. "But me and Angel have an elevator to catch." she said meeting his gaze. "You can still pursue the nightlife if you want Tara, but be warned by tonight's end you'll lose all of your vampiric powers. The extra strength, the speed, everything."

"I understand." Tara replied as she lowered her head, only for a second later for Angel to put his finger under her chin to make her look up at him. Out of a lack of anything to say, he leaned down and softly kissed her on her cheek.

Meeting each others gazes Tara watched, without fanfare, as Angel and Cordelia faded into nothingness.

"Seven years." Tara whispered to herself as a sob escaped her lips. 'Seven years of blood, sweat, and tears and now he's gone.'

"It's gonna be alright luv." Spike said putting a hand on her shoulder. "There's no use cryin' over Captain Forehead, he'll be alright."

"What the hell just happened?" they heard Wesley shouting out. Turning they saw that the whole group had returned to normal and were looking around confused.

"Noth...nothing important." Tara stuttered as she attempted to walk past them, only to fall weakly into Kendra's arms.

"Tara...Tara are you okay?" she heard an assortment of voices ask, as she slipped in and out of conciousness.

"I'm...I'm fine. I'm just exhausted."

"We just kicked the ultimate evil's ass." Gunn said as he twirled his ax around. "I'd say we're more then a little tired."

"I'll take her to me apartment." Kendra told them as she let, Tara lean on her for support. "After we deal with de demon bodies, later on tonight I tink we should go to Carita's to celebrate our victory."

"What demon bodies?" Dante asked, making the group look around. And to all of there mutual surprise, all of the demons that littered the ground were gone. Not even a drop of their blood was even left behind.

"My shell took them..." before Illyria could get her sentence out, Spike bumped into her and gave her a look that said to "be quiet."

"Well whatever happened, it's less work for us." Leon said as he leaned up against a wall.

"I don't know about you guys but I could use a shower." Xander said as he flung some demon gunk off of his arm. "I'll see you guys later on tonight."

And with that said they all looked at each other before going their seperate ways.

Kendra's Apartment

Thirty Minutes later

"Thanks for helping me up the stairs." Tara said, as Kendra opened the door to her apartment. "God, I can't wait to get some rest."

"Believe me, I know how you feel." Kendra replied as Tara let go of her. "Hey what's dat smell?"

As Tara took another whiff of what she thought was stale air, she knew, without the help of her vampiric senses, exactly what it was.

"It's blood." she whispered as Kendra walked out of the entrance hallway and into her living room, where she let out a blood curdling scream. Stumbling behind her, Tara struggled not to vomit as she saw blood covering the walls and the bodies or what was left of it of Amy and Jonathan.

"Noooo...!" Kendra yelled as she fell to her knees and cried out. Just seeing her friends like that did something to Tara inside and at that moment her wounds, fatigue, and even her own feelings no longer mattered.

"Dragon Guanlet's!" she yelled, as a familiar golden light flashed throughout the room, and also giving her a slight power boost. She had seen to much last night and had done so much in the last few years, that made her finally snap. And then to come home and to find some of her best friends... she didn't really want to think about it. Tapping into her magical powers she waited until Kendra turned around to see what her shout was about, before putting her hand on the Slayer's shoulder. "Sleep."

As Kendra fell limply into Tara's arms, she picked her up and carried her over to a clean spot on the floor, before walking over to the phone and dialing 911.

"Yes, I need you to send an ambulance and... a hearse to 1616 Partman Dr. apartment number 2 at the Center Courts apartment." not waiting for the dispatcher to say anything, Tara hung up the phone, gave one last look to Kendra and headed for her bedroom.

As she walked into the room she turned toward a large wooden trunk and opened it, revealing a stash of weapons. Grabbing a leather bag that sat next to it, she threw some in before arming herself to the teeth. Throwing star, knife at her waist, knife at her ankle, a sword, and finally some wrist stake launchers.

Twirling the sword in her hands, she stabbed the weapon down into the floor and kicked the punching bag Kendra had in her room off its chain.

"It's time." she said to herself as she grabbed the sword, walked out of the room, and over to the nearest window.

Before slipping out of it, she turned around and waved her hand through the air causing a concussive wave to fill the room. Blurry images then filled the room of what happened hours before and she suddenly saw demons and vampires carrying a screaming Amy and Jonathan away from each other and during horrible and evil things to them before biting into them. Ignoring their screams, she looked over to the door and saw a woman she hadn't seen in years.

"Drusilla." she said, anger filling her heart as the images dissappeared. Lowering her hand, she jumped out of the window, for tonight was going to be her last night as the Seraphim.

A Deserted Sewer Intersection

Later that day

The stench of the sewers was nearly overwhelming, as Tara crouched on some overhead pipes. She had been tracking the monsters that killed her friends all day and what was left of her senses led her here. Hearing someone in the distance, she stood perfectly still and readied herself for war, just as a group of four vampires came down one of the tunnels.

"They were helpless against us." the lead vamp bragged as he turned to look at his gang. "The boss said that they would be more of a challenge but they weren't nothing. The job was worth it for the girl, but the guy was just so greasy. The job was like - Christmas!"

Having heard enough Tara dropped down onto the bragging lead-vamp, which managed to kick her off him.

"What the hell?" he asked as Tara dropped her bag full of weapons.

"The Seraphim..." the leader trembled as he saw her. And as Tara looked back at him, she recognized him to be the same vampire that she had let go on her first night as the Seraphim. Suddenly she felt a pang of guilt wash over her, but she pushed it down so she could concentrate on what she had to do.

Changing into her vamp face Tara charged back in and proceeded to take all four of the vampires on at once. Letting out a barrage of punches she staked one, while kicking another one, sending it flying up against the wall. Triggering one of her wrist stake launchers she dusted a second. The lead-vamp, his anger coming back to him, grabbed Tara and pushed her against the wall, but when it tried to throw her against the opposing wall, Tara ran up the side of it. Using the vampire's hold as a pivot she landed behind it and drove her wrist stake into its heart. Seeing his gang fall, the last vamp tried to run off, but Tara tackled him to the ground, then pulled out her sword and beheaded the vampire, sending up a small squirt of blood.

"I'm ready." Tara growled as she dropped the bloody sword and started to walk down the tunnel, taking off her coat and throwing it to the ground, picking up her bag along the way. "I've still got the moves. Now I need to find the other's responsible."

Later That Night

L.A. Memorial Hospital

Kendra awoke in a hospital bed, sweating and biting down the urge to scream. The sounds of beeping machines pushing her to conciousness. As the haze that clouded her mind started to dissapate, she remembered fighting a horde of demons, helping Tara to her home, and finally finding Jonathan and Amy eviscerated.

Pushing down the bile that rose in her throat, at that thought, she sat up in the bed and looked around.

'How did I get here?' she asked herself. Then it hit her like a bolt of lightning. 'Tara.' Picking up a phone that was on a night stand in her room, she dialed the number of one of her friends.

Tara walked up to an abandoned building breathing heavily, eyes glazed over with anger. Sliding a big garage door to the side she revealed an assortment of different demons waiting inside. Letting go of her weapons bag, it dropped almost in slow motion to the ground, even as she twisted a small ax in her hand. Soon everything was going to be over.

An Hour Later

Drusilla slide the door open to her hideout and walked in to see the floor littered with demon corpses and severed limbs and a pile of dust between her and the door.

"My little soldiers." she said to herself as she looked around and saw Seraphim leaning against the hood of a dusty car, smoking a cigarette and wearing a bloody looking wife beater shirt. "Hello auntie. Did you like my present?"

Not getting an answer, she looked at Tara even closer and saw that she was pretty beat up, before continuing her diatribe.

"Do you like my new arm?" she asked as she raised her right arm, which had a long black leather glove that covered her arm to the elbow. After they had last met, she went to a voodoo shaman in south america and for a price, was able to make a new arm for her. "Because I think it matches my new ring." she said as she held up the gem of amara.

Tara perked up a bit at the mention of a ring and from what she remembered from Angel's memories, she knew exactly what it was. She also remembered a violent earthquake in Sunnydale, a few days before it collasped, but she didn't think more of it.

"Goodbye Dru." Tara whispered as she threw down her cigarette butt. It then ignited a trail of gasoline, causing Dru to look down at the flames. As if in slow motion she saw them racing towards her as it ignited the puddle of gasoline she now saw that she was standing in.

"You're so silly auntie." Drusilla giggled to herself before the flames reached her. "This won't..." before she could finish her sentence Tara waved her hand out and the gem was violently ripped off of Drusilla's finger and went into her hand.

"No...!" Drusilla screamed as the fire licked at her clothes and she began to burn.

Having seen enough Tara turned around to pick up her bag of weapons, revealing a can of gasoline sitting on the hood behind her, and walked out without looking back.

She had to make her pain end, because she was dying inside. In her mind her whole life began to come full circle and it was filled wih nothing but pain and suffering. That had to stop, Now!

Carita's

"Hey, I wonder where Tara and Kendra are?" Xander asked the gang as they all sat around listening to Spike sing up on stage. "It's not like them to be late."

"I tried calling both of them earlier but I didn't get an answer." Alonna said as she held up her cellphone.

"Will you guys stop worrying." Chris said as he put his beer on the table. "Tara and Kendra are big girls, their fine."

"I wish that were true." Wesley said out of breath, as he and Illyria walked into the club and up to their table. "Kendra called me some time ago from the hospital and informed me that she woke up there."

"What? Is she..."

"She's alright, but I'm afraid that Mr. Levinson and Miss Madison are... dead."

"It was a demon attack." Illyria blurted out as she cocked her head to the side. "Me and Wesley went to the Slayer's home and..."

"What about Tara?" Xander asked as he stood to his feet and grabbed Illyria by the shoulders. "Is she dead? Where is she?"

"She wasn't there." she replied slowly as she looked into Xander's eyes. 'That's the same look that I gave Wesley in the other time, before he died. Could that be love?'

"Wes get Spike off the stage and tell him what's going on."

"Where are you going!" Wes yelled as Xander ran to the door.

"To find my girl." he said lowly and as he ran out of the door a familiar voice suddenly spoke in his mind, telling him where he needed to be.

* * *

Tara stood on the highest building in downtown L.A. overlooking the city and the people within it. Her vampiric senses were quickly leaving her, but that didn't matter as she hopped up on the very edge of the building. She felt like all the people on the streets were fools, for not seeing what the night held and honestly she just wanted to fade away in that illusion.

Taking a deep breath she jumped off of the building, only for a hand to grab her arm before she could completely fall. Looking up at who was pulling her up, she saw that it was...

"Xander?" she asked.

"Yeah it's me." he said as he let her go. "Now what the hell are you doing?" he asked as he fully pulled her over the edge and let go of her.

"I...I have to do this Xander. I'm tired...I'm so tired..." she said as she fell weakly to her knee's and started crying. Her Dragon Guanlet's then retreated back inside of her arms, as her long blonde hair fell over her face.

"I know how you feel." Xander said as he got on his knees and put his hands on her shoulders. "We keep fighting...holding back the tide and bad things just keep coming."

"You...you don't understand. It's my fault that Amy and Jonathan died." Tara replied as she looked up at him.

"Nonsense Tara. Drusilla and her goons did that, not you."

"How...how did you know that?"

"Let's just say an Angel whispered that information to me." Xander said with a soft smile. "Tara listen, do you have any idea how important you are to the team? How important you are to me?"

"What are you saying?" Tara asked as she looked up at him.

"I'm saying that I love you Tara." he replied as he put his hand on her cheek. "I've been in love with you for years but if you jump..." he stopped talking for a second as he looked over the edge of the building. "I'm going to jump with you."

Tara then stood to her feet, fully determined to tell him how she felt, but couldn't get the words out as she fell in his arms and cried.

"And then what happened mommy?" a five year old girl with honey blonde hair, wearing Winnie the Pooh pajama's asked as Tara tucked her into bed.

"What do you think happened dummy." her seven year old brother voiced from his twin bed, beside her. "Mom and dad got married and had us."

"Jonathan how many times have I told you not to call your sister names?" Xander asked as he walked into the room with a stern look on his face.

"Sorry dad." Jonathan said as he ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Don't say you're sorry to me, apologize to your sister."

"Sorry Amy." Jonathan said with a roll of his eyes as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Well, I guess that's it for my story." Tara said with a smile as she stood up off of Amy's bed.

"Awww... mom." both of the kids whined in unison.

"There's gotta be more to the story than that." Jonathan complained. "Like what happened to Angel?"

"That's a story for another time." Tara said as she walked around both of their beds and kissed them on the forehead. "Good night."

Both of their children pouted but did as they were told and were soon fast asleep. With a smile on her face Tara shut off the light to the room and walked down the hallway of her and Xander's mansion.

"So you finally decided to tell them that story?" Xander asked as they walked into their master bedroom and sat down on their comfy king sized bed.

"I made up a few things here and there, but I'm guessing that they thought I made it up anyway." she said as she pulled the red satin silk sheets back and got into bed. "Goodnight." she said kissing him on the cheek.

"One thing keeps bothering me about the story though." Xander said as he got into bed and drapped his arm around her.

"Yeah, what's that?"

"What really did happen to Angel?" he asked, only for Tara to give him a winning smile. After being married to her for ten years he knew what that smile meant. "You aren't gonna tell me anything are you?"

"Not a chance." she replied as she kissed him on the cheek and rolled over in bed. As she closed her eyes, she silently prayed that where ever Angel went, that he was in a far better place.

Alternate Ending 1

Tara's Apartment

After the grizzly task of killing Drusilla, Tara stripped down, opened the shower door in her bathroom, stepped inside and turned on the water. The water sluiced down her body, washing away the blood, turning into a crimson swirl as it circled the drain. She stared straight forward, her face an emotionless mask, then suddenly her icy calm broke and she started to cry over all of the people she had lost over the years and over all of the horrible things she had to do.

As her emotions took over her, she sat down in the shower and put her hands over her face. More than anything she felt guilt over her part in getting Jonathan and Amy killed.

'If I had of just killed that vamp a long time ago, maybe they would have still been alive.' she thought to herself. If she had've been paying more attention, she would have seen her Dragon Guanlet's become activated by themself.

Before she could do more then think about it, a foreign power poured through her body. Just as quickly as she started to scream, she stopped and closed her eyes to embrace the pain. After a few seconds her eyes popped open and they were pitch black. Letting out a scream of a banshee, black magic rippled out of her body and the walls to her bathroom and apartment exploded in a blaze of fire.

Ascending out of the flame and into the air like an angel, Tara flew high into the sky before landing on a tall building, overlooking the city.

"You people are nothing but vermin." she said too herself as a black dress appeared on her naked body. "None of you, knowanything of pain." she said icily as her Dragon Guanlet's flared and she readied a giant red and orange fire ball in the palm of her hands. "But you soon will."

Feeding more power into the attack, she unleashed it and LA was set on fire. Having smelled enough of the roasting flesh of the people below her, a small vortex opened up behind her and without turning back, she walked through it. Never to return again.

Alternate Ending 2

"So I'm finally taking that elevator ride to hell?" Angel asked, as he and Cordelia literally went down in an elevator.

"Not exactly." Cordelia said with a small chuckle. "You've been reassigned."

"Cordy what's going on?" Angel asked, not liking the hint of amusement that he saw in her eyes. "Where are we going?"

"You..." she clarified, giving him a lopsided grin. "Are going to Sunnydale in another dimension. There's a girl there that needs your help."

"Who?" Angel asked confused. 'Why can't I just rest in peace?' he asked himself.

"Your daughter." she said as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Looking out Angel saw nothing more than a pitch black room. As his vampiric senses kicked in, he was able to make out some faint shapes further in the room.

"There's nothing to beafraid of big guy." Cordy said as she walked passed him and into the room. "Now come on and meet your little girl."

"What are you talking about?" Angel asked as he walked up behind her.

"I'm talking about her." she replied as she pointed at a beautiful black girl, with a black trench coat. She was fighting a taller man and as the man turned around he saw that it was himself.

"What the..."

"Like I said we're in a different dimension." Cordelia interrupted his question. "And in this dimension, you weren't the only one that Darla turned in Ireland. Before you met Darla you saved a girl named Angela from a vampire and you two eventually shared a house together."

"So what happened to her...to us?" Angel asked as the girl tried to do a side kick on his double ganger.

"Well you were still a useless drunk at the time and she would get on you about it. And that's how she got her new name Angel?" Cordelia explained. "You two were living pretty good until one day Darla came looking for you. She ended up turning the both of you and to make a long story short, she was givin the soul and you weren't. Now the powers have decided that she needs to be set on her mission."

"So why am I here?"

"Because..." Cordy started as she let out a sigh. "She's gonna have it way worse then you did with your turn around. She's gonna need a guide Angel. She needs you."

Angel watched the girl fight for a few moments and he had to admit that he saw a little of himself in her. The part of him that wanted to help. Without saying another word to Cordelia, Angel walked over to the female Angel and put his hand on her head before dissappearing into nothingness.

Cordelia smiled to herself as she watched Angel leave, before taking a step back and dissappearing in the shadows.

Angel jumped over Donovan's outstrecthed leg, before reaching into her duster and pulled out some ninja sai's.

"I lass, I see you've learned a few moves on your own." Donovan said as he avoided a punch.

(Don't listen to him when he talks because he's trying to throw you off your game.) a familiar voice suddenly echoed through her head.

"Daddy?" Angel voiced aloud, making Donovan look at her strangely. What Angel didn't know was that now, she was gonna have problems with the soul.

The End

A/N If you have questions about certain characters or plots for this story I never used then ask away and make sure you add your email address. I'm looking forward to hearing what you all have to say. Also in order to get the references to the female Angel and Donovan you have to read my story called Angelus. Also Angel only spoke with Xander a moment and told him where to find Tara, before she killed herself. And I know it was sudden and a little strange for me to pair Xander and Tara together, but I promised someone almost two years ago that I was either going to pair her with Gunn or Xander. Basically I chose for it to be Xander. I really hope everybody enjoyed this.


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